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■^ ^kJOHNWILBER JENKINS -^ ^ 
INTRODUCTION B/JOSEPH US DANIELS SECRETARY OF THE NAVy 




ON THE WAY TO MAKE THE WORLD SAFE FOR DEMOCRACY 
)Br()wn 15ro3., N. Y. 



OUR NAVY'S PART 

IN THE GREAT\i?AK 



By JOHJMWIL5ER JENKINS 

OF THE NAV\' DEPARTMENT 




With An Introduction 5y 

1 osEPHUs Daniels 

SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 
John H. Eggers Coj-c 

.TIMES BUtUOING" 

TIMES SQUARE NEWYORK 

Copyright 1919 
John H. Eggers, New York 




JOSEPHUS DANIELS AND STAFF 

Left to Right— Admiral Griffin, Admiral Taylor, Mr. Daniels, Admiral Earle, 
Commander Foote 



MM 24 1919 



*$*$*$*$*$* 



OUR "FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE" 

By Josephus Daniels 

Secretary of the Navy 

THE more the American people know'about their Na\y and its achievements, 
the greater will be their pride and confidence in it. Our experiences in the 
war have convinced me that the Navy can accomplish any task it may 
undertake, and that it is ready and willing to undertake almost anything that needs 
to be done. In the war, the Navy was called upon to undertake many novel and 
untried tasks, but whenever any new and difficult duty was imposed, theentire 
service, from admirals to apprentice seamen, responded with enthusiasm and went 
at it with the initiative and energy which compelled success. 

' When we were called upon to arm American merchant vessels, hundreds of expert 
gunners were required and many more guns than seemed possible to secure, of the 
calibres necessary. But we got the guns and the gunners, and it was not long before 
practically all American vessels sailing the war zone were armed and carried naval 
gun-crews. When war was declared we possessed few of the auxiliary vessels 
required for scouting, patrol and other duties, but they were secured. We needed 
five times as much anti-submarine craft, and we built submarine chasers and 
destroyers by the hundred. There were few transports available when the Navy 
was entrusted with the transportation of American troops to France, but, from 
small beginnings, the Cruiser and Transport Force was built up into a huge fleet. 
Two million American troops were safely transported to France, with large assist- 
ance from the British, and such aid as the French and Italians could furnish; about 
950,000 of these being carried over in American vessels. The manning and opera- 
tion of troop-ships and cargo transports by the Navy required hundreds of crews. 
These were ready when required, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers and millions 
of tons of munitions and supplies were transported in vessels manned by the Navy. 
These joint operations of Army and Navy were conducted in the closest co-opera- 
tion, and their success reflects the highest credit on both. In this war it has been 
in fact, as well as in name, a "United Service." 

One of the most gratifying features of the war has been the close co-operation of 
the Allied navies. From the time Admiral Sims arrived in London, there has been 

[3] 



the most complete accord. Unity of purpose and command have been practically in 
effect from the start. Our destroyers, submarines, sub-chasers and other craft 
have served with, and at times under command of, the British, French and Italian 
officers; our battleships for a year constituted a regular division of the British 
Grand Fleet; our forces on the coast of France worked as smoothly as if the French 
and American navies had been one. We had the same intimate relations with the 
Italians in the Mediterranean and the Adriatic, and the Japanese in oriental waters. 
Our relations with our Latin-American neighbors were never so close and cordial 
as during the past two years. 

We were privileged, with the co-operation of the British, to construct the North 
Sea Mine Barrage, and were associated with them in laying the oil pipe line across 
Scotland and in other enterprises of magnitude; were privileged to aid the French 
in the patrol of their coast and the improvement of the ports assigned for the 
landing of American troops, and to assist the Italians in some of their brilliant 
and successful enterprises. The Naval Railway Batteries, with their huge 14-inch 
guns, rendered valiant service on the Western Front in the closing days of the war. 
It is a matter of pride that the Marines were privileged to serve with that great 
American Expeditionary Force under General Pershing which played such a ma- 
terial part in the final defeat of the Germans. 

The growth of our Navy to more than half a million officers and men, manning 
two thousand vessels, has been almost phenomenal; but no less so than the spirit 
and efficiency these men have displayed, their courage and enterprise in facing 
every danger and performing every duty imposed upon them. 

There has been no more striking instance of sea power than in this war, in which 
the Allies held control of the seas and, in spite of ruthless submarine warfare and 
the activity of raiders, at last compelled the surrender of the German High Seas 
Fleet. It is gratifying that our own Navy had a part in accomplishing this result; 
that it has played an important role in the greatest of wars and written a new and 
brilliant page in history. Stronger, larger, more powerful and efficient than eve^ 
before, the Greater Navy is prepared to render greater service not only to the 
American people but also to preserve the peace of the world. 




Washington, D. C, March 6th, 1919. 



[4] 




THE NAVY'S PART IN THE WAR 

By John Wilder Jenkins 

of the 
Navy Department 

ON April 6, 1917, the day President Wilson, in accordance with the resolu- 
tion of Congress, declared the existence of a state of war with Germany, 
Secretary Daniels sent out the order for the mobilization of the Fleet. This 
order, which marked for the Navy the actual beginning of hostilities, was flashed 
to the flagships Pennsylvania^ Minnesota, Seattle, Columbia and Vestal, and sent 
to every ship in service. So thoroughly had the plans been worked out under the 
direction of the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral William S. Benson, that 
Admiral Henry T. Mayo, Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet, is quoted as 
saying: *'I did not give a single solitary order of any kind or description to pass 
the Fleet from a peace to a war basis." 

Ships that were in reserve were put into full commission without delay; supply 
ships had been loaded and fully equipped, and were ready to sail. Reserves ot 
ammunition and supplies had been acquired, battleships and cruisers were in a 
high state of efficiency; the Navy was ready for action. 

Ruthless submarine warfare was at its height. Germany was carrying out to the 
letter its intention of sinking without warning all vessels, neutral as well as belliger- 
ent, entering the so-called barred zone proclaimed in its note of January 31, 191 7, 
which had caused this Government to break off" relations with Germany on February 
3d, and to arm American merchantmen for protection against attack from sub- 
marines. The Navy had, on March 12, in accordance with the order of the 
President, begun the arming of merchant ships. 

ARMED GUARDS ON MERCHANTMEN 

Guns and gun-crews were promptly placed on our merchantmen, which, with 
naval armed guards aboard, were sailing through the war zone before the actual 
declaration of war. In fact, on April i, the day before President Wilson made 
his historic address to Congress, John I. Eopolucci, of Washington, a member ot 
the armed guard on the Aztec^ was killed when that vessel was sunk by a subma- 
rine. The first American officer lost in service against the enemy was Lieutenant 

[S] 



Clarence C. Thomas, of Grass Valley, Cal., who, with four of his men, perished 
after the sinking of the Vacuum on April 28. 

To provide these gun-crews for merchantmen, the Navy organized an Armed 
Guard Section. Trained gunners were required, and many were taken from battle- 
ships and cruisers for this important duty. This was a duty no navy had contem- 
plated in previous years, as the days of piracy were long past, and Germany was 
the first nation in modern times to attack merchantmen and sink them without 
warning, taking no steps to save the lives of crews or passengers. There were not 
enough free guns of the proper calibres available, but the Bureau of Ordnance 
managed to meet the demand; though in some cases they had to be taken from the 
secondary batteries of battleships, to be replaced later when more could be manu- 
factured. 

MANY ENCOUNTERS WITH SUBMARINES 

Despite the difficulties, it was not long before every American vessel that applied 
was armed, and furnished with a naval gun-crew; and the exploits of these armed 
guards in their encounters with submarines make one of the brightest chapters ot 
the war. The Mongoliuy on which Lieutenant Bruce R. Ware, Jr., was in 
command of the armed guard, was first to report having scored a hit against an 
enemy U-boat; and not long afterward the French Ministry of Marine credited the 
Silver Shell with sinking a submarine, and Turret Captain William J. Clark, 
who commanded its armed guard, was promoted by Secretary Daniels for coura- 
geous and efficient conduct. 

DESTROYERS SENT TO THE WAR ZONE 

The submarine being the immediate menace, it was apparent tnat the immediate 
duty of the United States Navy was to give the British and French every assistance 
in its power in the anti-submarine campaign. Admiral William S. Sims, who was 
on his way to London before war was declared, was made Commander-in-Chief of 
United States naval forces operating in European waters. Orders were given for 
the fitting out of a flotilla of destroyers "for distant service." The first group of 
six sailed from Boston on the morning of April 24, 191 7. This w^s composed of: 
first section — The Wadsworth^ Commander Joseph K. Taussig, Jr., commanding; 
the Porter and the Davis; second section — the Conynghaniy McDougal and JVain- 
■zvright. 

They arrived at Queenstown, Ireland, on May 4. A British destroyer, the 
Mary Rose, and fast motor boats were sent out to greet them and guide them into 
the harbor. At Admiralty House they were received by Admiral Sir Lewis 
Bayly, Commander-in-Chief of the Coasts of Ireland. Presuming that, after 
their long and stormy voyage, they would require some time for repairs and "tuning 
up,'* Admiral Bayly asked, "When will you be ready to go to work?" Commander 
Taussig, the senior officer, answered, "We are ready now, sir." That answer 
struck the keynote. 

HIGH PRAISE FROM BRITISH ADMIRAL 

The American destroyers and their crews were always ready for any duty, no 
matter how difficult or dangerous. They entered into the campaign with an 
energy and enthusiasm that won the regard of their British comrades, and a year 
later, on the anniversary of their arrival, Admiral Bayly, in a general order, said: 

"I wish to express my deep gratitude to the United States' officers and ratings 
for the skill, energy, and unfailing good nature which they have consistently shown, 

[6] 



and which qualities have so materially assisted the war by enabling the ships of the 
Allied Powers to cross the ocean in comparative freedom. To command you is an 
honor, to work with you is a pleasure, and to know you is to know the best traits 
of the Anglo-Saxon race." 

SAILED UNDER SEALED ORDERS 

Commander Taussig gave the following interesting description of the voyage of 
the first flotilla of destroyers and their work: 

"When the United States became a belligerent, one of the first requests the Allies 
made was that we send as many destroyers and other patrol boats as we could 
possibly muster over to the other side to assist them in combating the submarines. 
At 9:30 one April night I received orders to proceed at daylight to my home navy 
yard to fit out for distant service. What was before us I did not know. There 
were five other commanding officers of destroyers who received the same orders, 
and at 5 o'clock the following morning we left Chesapeake Bay and were on our way 
to New York and Boston at a high speed, in order that we might get ready, as soon 
as possible, for whatever it was to be. 

"So anxious was the Navy Department that the outside world in general know 
nothing of the movement of these ships that not even I, who was in command of 
the expedition, was informed of our destination. We went to the navy yards, the 
ships went in dock, had their bottoms cleaned and painted, we took on stores and 
provisions to last three months, and in a few days sailed from Boston. 

"My orders w^ere to proceed to a point fifty miles east of Cape Cod and then open 
my sealed instructions. Until I got to that point, at midnight of the first night 
out, I did not know that our first port of call was to be Queenstown. It was quite 
natural that the few in authority who knew of our movements watched with 
anxiety for news of our crossing. It was the first time that vessels of this type had 
ever made so long a continuous passage without refueling or without the company 
of lajrger vessels. 

WARMLY WELCOMED BY THE BRITISH 

"We w^ere ten days in making the trip, due mostly to a southeast gale, which 
accompanied us for seven of the ten days. So rough was the sea during this time 
that for seven of the ten days we did not set our mess tables; we ate off our laps. 
On the ninth day we were pleased to be met by a little British destroyer named the 
Mary Rose. She picked us up early one morning and came along flying the inter- 
national signal, 'Welcome to the American Colors.' To this we replied, 'Thank 
you, we are glad of your company.* The Mary Rose then accompanied us to 
Queenstown. I am sorry to say that three months later the Mary Rose was sunk 
with all hands by a German raider in the North Sea. We received a very hearty 
welcome at Queenstown by the British Admiral, Sir Lewis Bayly, and by the 
others in authority there. They were very glad to see us. 

"Things were looking black. In the three previous weeks the submarines had 
sunk 152 British merchant ships. It was manifest that this thing could not go on 
if the Allies were to win the war. The British Admiral gave us some wholesome 
advice in regard to how best to fight the submarines. We immediately prepared 
for this service by having what are known as depth charges or depth bombs in- 
stalled. We put ashore all of our surplus stores and provisions in order to lighten 
our draft, as it was possible that a few inches might save us from striking a mine. 

[7] 



MINES HAD BEEN PLANTED IN CHANNEL 

"The seriousness of the work before us was made evident, not only by the large 
number of vessels that were being sunk, but by the fact that the night before we 
entered the harbor a German submarine had planted twelve mines right in the 
channel. Fortunately for us, they were swept up by the ever-vigilant British 
mine sweepers before we arrived. The day following our arrival one of the British 
gunboats from our station was torpedoed and her captain and forty of her crew 
were lost. Patrol vessels were continually bringing in the survivors from the 
various ships as they were sunk. 

"The British Admiral told us that we would go on patrol duty for six days at a 
time, and then come in for two or three days' rest. In this patrol duty we were 
assigned to certain areas, as far as 300 miles offshore, as the submarines were then 
operating that far out. Our orders were to destroy submarines; to escort or con- 
voy valuable merchant ships; to save lives if we could. We did escort many ships, 
and we did save many lives. 

SUBMARINES WERE HARD TO CATCH 

*T cannot say that we sank many submarines. The submarine, I found, is a 
very difficult bird to catch. He has tremendous advantage over the surface craft. 
In the fiist place, he always sees you first. This is because when on the surface 
he is very low, and when submerged he has only his periscope out, or perhaps 
nothing at all. As he was not after destroyers, he avoided us whenever he could. 
That is, if he saw the destroyer on the horizon, the submarine immediately went 
the other way. 

"When we saw a submarine, which sometimes happened frequently, and at 
other times several weeks might pass without seeing one, we would immediately 
go after him full speed, and open fire with our guns in the hopes of getting in a shot 
before he submerged; but he always submerged very quickly. Only once did my 
vessel in seven months succeed in actually firmg at a submarine. He then went 
down after the fifth shot was fired. At that time he was five miles away. But 
what they are afraid of are the depth charges or depth bombs. 

DEPTH-CHARGE USED AGAINST U-BOATS 

"I will tell you how they operate. A depth-charge is about two or three hundred 
pounds of a high explosive. It is fitted so as to explode automatically at any depth 
we may desire. The destroyers and patrol vessels carry them on deck at the stern. 
When we see a submarine submerge we try to find his wake, and if we can see the 
wake of a submerged vessel we run over it, drop the depth charge by simply pulling 
a lever, and in a few seconds there is a terrific explosion. 

"This explosion is so great that on one or two occasions, when I happened to 
be in the chart house when they let go, I thought my own ship was torpedoed. 
They can be felt under water for a distance of several miles, but, of course, they 
must be dropped very close to the submarine in order to destroy him. If we get 
it say within ninety feet of the hull, it may damage it enough to cause him to sink, 
otherwise only superficial damage may result. 

"The patrol duty was very trying, as the ocean was strewn with wreckage for a 
distance of 300 miles off shore. It was hard to tell a periscope when we saw one. 
Fish, floating spars, and many other objects were taken for periscopes and fired at; 
we could not afford to take a chance, as our whole safety depended on our being 
vigilant. 

[8] 



"The submarines did less damage as the summer wore on, due, undoubtedly, 
to. our having more patrol vessels. 

CONVOY SYSTEM PROTECTED MERCHANT SHIPS 

"Then the scheme was taken up of having convoys. The advantage of a convoy 
is that six or ten destroyers can protect from twenty to thirty merchant ships, 
while in the patrol system only one destroyer could be with one merchant ship at a 
time. The convoy system has now developed so that practically all vessels 
passing through the danger zone are in large convoys of from ten to thirty with an 
escort of from six to ten destroyers. 

"These convoy trips would take us out of port from six to eight days. They 
were very trying days, especially during the latter part of fall, when the weather 
got bad. When we are at sea in this way w^e do not take off our clothes, neither 
officer nor man. We must be ready at all times. We do not even have the pleas- 
ure of taking a bath, as something might happen and we would not be'ready for it. 
As one young officer expressed it, we had to come down to the Saturday night bath 
habit, and if we happened to be at sea Saturday night we might be out of luck. 

"The night work was very difficult, as the danger of collision was great with so 
many ships without lights operating in close proximity. There are frequent col- 
lisions, and we must use our judgment as to w^hether we should turn on our lights 
and avoid the danger of collisions, and take the risk of a submarine seeing us, or 
keeping our lights out and taking our chances. We have this to remember, that 
if a submarine sinks us she only sinks one ship, but a serious collision may result 
in the sinking of two ships, so it is a matter of judgment." 

338 U. S. VESSELS, 75,000 MEN, IN EUROPEAN SERVICE 

Every destroyer that could be spared was sent across the Atlantic; work was 
rushed on those under construction — orders had been given early in the war for 
all American shipyards could build — and the new ones were despatched as rapidly 
as they were completed. Converted yachts, patrol vessels, submarine chasers 
and other types that could be utilized were sent over. By January I, 1918, there 
were 113 United States naval vessels across, and in October, 191 8, the total had 
reached 338 ships of all classes. At the time hostilities ended there were 5,000 
officers and 70,000 enlisted men of the United States Navy serving in Europe, 
this total being greater than the full strength of the Navy when the United States 
entered the war. 

Some indication of the work done by our naval vessels in the war zone can be 
gained from the following averages of miles steamed per month: 

Miles 

Destroyers 275,000 

Miscellaneous patrol craft ' 120,000 

Mine sweepers 10,000 

Mine layers 10,000 

Battleships and submarines 90,000 

Submarine chasers . 121,000 

Total.. 626,000 

These figures include vessels actively engaged in naval duties only, under com- 
mand of Admiral Sims, and do not include troopships, transports, cargo carriers, 
or miscellaneous merchant vessels flying the American flag, constantly plying 

[9] 



through the war zone; nor do they include cruisers or battleships engaged in oversea 
escort duties. 

PATROL AND CONVOY WORK OF U. S. VESSELS 

In a six-month period the sum total of distances steamed by one squadron of 
destroyers amounted to more than a million sea-miles. In their first year of 
service the Porter steamed 64,473 miles, the Conyngham, 63,952, and the Davis ^ 
63,015. One of the new destroyers, the Kimberly, in one month steamed 7,019 
miles, and was at sea 470 hours; that is, 65 per cent, of the time. 

At the height of our activity, during July and August, 1918, 3,444,012 tons of 
shipping were escorted to and from France by American escort vessels operating 
from French ports; of the above amount, 1,577,735 tons were escorted in and 
1,864,677 tons were escorted out of French ports. Of the tonnage escorted into 
French ports during this time, only 16,988 tons, or 0.009 P^r cent., were lost through 
enemy action, and of the tonnage escorted out from French ports, only 27,858 
tons, or 0.013 per cent., were lost through the same cause. During the same two 
months 259,604 American troops were escorted to France by United States escort 
vessels without the loss of a single man through enemy action. 

During the same period, destroyers based on British ports supplied 75 percent, 
of the escorts for 318 ships, totaling 2,752,908 tons, and including the escort of 
vessels carrying 137,283 United States troops; with no losses due to enemy action. 
The destroyers on tliis duty were at sea an average of 67 per cent, of the time, and 
were under way for a period of about 16,000 hours, steaming approximately an 
aggregate of 260,000 miles. 

The American force based on Gibraltar, including destroyers, gunboats, cruisers, 
yachts and Coast Guard cutters during July and August, 1918, was at sea 56 per 
cent, of the time, and actually underway 15,500 hours, steaming during this period 
160,000 miles. They have supplied approximately 25 per cent, of the escorts for 
Mediterranean convoys between Gibraltar on the one hand and France and Italy 
on the other, and performed 70 per cent, of the ocean escort duties between Gib- 
raltar and England. 

The above figures were given by Secretary Daniels, in his annual report for 
1918, as. indicative of what was accomplished month b}^ month by our vessels in 
the war zone. 

2,000,000 TROOPS TRANSPORTED ACROSS ATLANTIC 

The conveyance of more than 2,000,000 American troops 3,000 miles overseas to 
France has been called "the biggest transportation job in history." That it was 
performed without the loss of a single American troopship on the way to France 
was marvelous, in view of the fact that our ships faced the constant menace of 
attack by submarines and were exposed to all the hazards of war-time navigation. 
When it was decided, soon after this country entered the war, to send over, as soon 
as possible, all the American troops available, this task was entrusted to the Navy. 
Vessels that could be used were quickly converted into transports, a force was or- 
ganized under Rear Admiral (now Vice Admiral) Albert Gleaves, and the first 
convoy of American troops sailed from New York in a dense fog on June 14, 1917. 

FIRST CONVOY OF AMERICAN TROOPS 

Admiral Gleaves, on his flagship, the cruiser SeattleyW^s in command. The 
transports were in four groups, as follows: 

[10] 



GROUP I 

Transport Escort Type 

Saratoga Seattle Armored Cruiser 

Havana De Kalb Auxiliary Cruiser 

Tenadores Corsair Converted Yacht 

Pastores Wilkes Destroyer 

Terry Destroyer 

Roe Destroyer 

GROUP II 

Transport Escort Type 

Momus Birmingham Scout Cruiser 

Antilles Aphrodite Converted Yacht 

Lenape. Fanning Destroyer 

Burrows Destroyer 

Lamson Destroyer 

GROUP III 

Transport Escort Type 

Mallory ... Charleston Cruiser 

Finland Cyclops Converted Yacht 

San Jacinto .... . . , ... Allen Destroyer 

McCall Destroyer 

Preston Destroyer 

GROUP IV 

Transport Escort Type 

Montanan. St. Louis Cruiser 

Dakotan Hancock Cruiser Transport 

El Occidente Shaw Destroyer 

D.N. Luckenbach Ammen Destroyer 

Flusser Destroyer 

The groups sailed six hours apart. The vessels w^ere arranged according to 
speed so as to assure to each group the safety of the best speed and to lessen the 
chances of collision. Admiral Gleaves, Commander-in-Chief, was in personal com- 
mand of the first group; Captain D. W. Blamer, of the Seattle, was Chief of Staff; 
Lieutenant A. L. Bristol, Flag Secretary; Lieutenant F. M. Perkins, Force Engi- 
neer; Lieutenant F. H. Roberts, Force Torpedo and Gunnery Officer; Lieutenant 
T. A. Symington, Flag Lieutenant; Lieutenant C. N. Ingraham, Flag Radio 
Officer. The second group was commanded by Commander Hussey; the third by 
Commander Campbell; the fourth by Captain Pollock. Major General Sibert, 
on the Tenadores, was in command of the troops. 

It was known that submarines were operating in the area that had to be crossed; 
specific instructions w^ere issued to each group and vessel, especially as to what to 
do in case of attack, and a general "doctrine of conduct" was evolved. Target 
practice and "abandon ship" drills were held daily, water-tight doors w^ere kept 
closed, and every possible precaution taken. 

TWO GROUPS ATTACKED BY SUBMARINES 

At lo o'clock on the night of June 22 the first group was attacked by subma- 
rines, the wake of a U-boat being sighted fifty yards off the port bow of the Seattle, 

[11] 



A few seconds later the De Kalb and the Havana sighted torpedoes and fired. Two 
torpedoes passed close to the Havana^ one ahead and the other astern of the De 
Kalb, but neither ship was struck. 

The second group sighted a submarine at 11:50 A. M. on June 26, a hundred 
miles off the French coast, and another two hours later. The destroyer Cum- 
mings, which had zigzagged ahead of the group for days, dashed down the wake 
of the submarine and dropped a depth-bomb over the indicated position of the 
U-boat. Patches of oil and pieces of wreckage rose to the surface, and nothing 
more was seen of the submersible. On June 28th, about 10:05 A. M., what 
appeared to be a submarine was sighted from the fourth group, and was fired upon 
by the Kanazvha. 

The French Admiralty, in a confidential official bulletin, reported that the sub- 
marine which bombarded Ponta Delgada, Azores, on July 4th, apparently was the 
same which sank a merchant vessel on June 25th, four hundred miles north of the 
Azores and on June 29th sank two other vessels a hundred miles from the islands, 
and the French bulletin added: "This submarine was ordered to watch in the vi- 
cinity of the Azores at such a distance as it was supposed the enemy American 
convoy would pass from the Azores." 

The first group of transports arrived at St. Nazaire June 26th; the second, June 
27th; th© third, June 28th; the fourth, July 2nd. On July 3rd Secretary Daniels 
announced that all the troops of the first contingent had arrived safely. 

LARGE CRUISER AND TRANSPORT FLEET BUILT UP 

From this comparatively small beginning the Cruiser and Transport Force 
was developed into a large fleet of 24 cruisers and 42 transports, manned by 3,000 
officers and 41,000 men. These w^ere augmented by four French men-of-war and 
13 foreign merchant vessels, a total of 83 ships. 

The largest of the German interned vessels were repaired and fitted out as trans- 
ports, as follows: 

Gross 

Old Name ' Nezv Name Tonnage 

Grosser Ku^rfutst Aeolus 13,102 

Kaiser Wilhelm II Agamemnon I9>36i 

George Washington George Washington 25,569 

Friedrich der Grosse Huron 10,771 

Vaterland Leviathan 69,000 

Koenig Wilhelm Madawaska 9,410 

Barbarossa Mercury 10,984 

Princess Irene Pocahontas 10,893 

Hamburg Powhatan io»53 1 

President Grant President Grant 18,172 

President Lincoln President Lincoln 18,172 

Cincinnati Covington 16,339 

Kronprinzessin Cecilie Mount Vernon I9j503 

Amerika America 22,622 

Rhein Susquehanna 10,058 

Neckar Antigone 6,200 

Prinz Eitel Friedrich De Kalb 5 jOOO 

[12] 



BRITISH FURNISHED MANY TRANSPORTS 

The British Government furnished many of its largest vessels for the transporta- 
tion of American troops, carrying over more than a million men, and the French 
and Italians gave such aid as they could. According to the table made up by 
Walter Logan, statistical officer of the Cruiser and Transport Force, a total of 
2,079,880 American troops were transported to France, as follows: 

1917 1918 

May Ij543 January 48j055 



June 15,09] 



February 49,239 

March 85,710 

July 12,876 April 120,072 

August 19,403 May 247,714 

^ , ^ June 280,434 

S^P^^-^ber 33,588 July - sufsl 

October 40,027 August 286,375 

November 23,722 September 259,670 

^ October 184,063 

December 4^ySis November 12,124 

Total.. 195,065 Total. .1,884,815 

Of these, according to Mr. Logan's figures, 911,047 were carried by United 
States naval transports, and 41 ,544 by other United States ships — a total of 952,591 
carried, in American vessels. British ships carried 1,006,987, British-leased 
Italian ships, 68,246; other ships, French, Italian, etc., 52,066. 

NOT ONE U. S. TROOPSHIP LOST ON WAY TO FRANCE 

Though several hundred lives were lost in the regrettable sinking of the Tvs- 
caniuy the Moldavia and the OtrantOy British vessels carr)'ing American troops, the 
total loss of life was remarkably small, and it was a source of gratification and thank- 
fulness that not one American transport was sunk on the way to France. Three 
were sunk on the homeward voyage — t\\Q Antilles on October 17, 191 7; the President 
Lincoln y on May 31, 191 8; and the Covington^ on July i, 1 91 8. The Fi^iland was 
torpedoed in October, 1917, and the Mount Vernon on September 5, 1918, but 
both managed to reach port, were repaired and put back into service. 

Secretary Daniels, in reviewing the work of troop transportation, wrote: "It is 
probably our major operation in this war and will, in the future, stand as a monu- 
ment to both the Army and the Navy as the greatest and most difficult troop 
transporting effort which has ever been conducted across seas.'* 

The Leviathan^ formerly the German Vaterland, the largest ship in existence, 
carried over nearly 100,000 troops. She made ten round trips in ten months, 
making most of these voyages without escort, trusting to her speed and armament 
to foil the U-boats. 

PATROL SQUADRONS SENT TO FRANCE 

The operations on the coast of France comprised one of the most important 
activities of the United States Navy. The first of the "U. S. Patrol Squadrons 
Operating in European Waters," under command of Rear Admiral W. B. Fletcher, 
sailed from the Navy Yard, New York, for France on June 4, 191 7; its mission 
being defined as "to operate against submarines and to protect shipping adjacent 

[13] 



to the coast of France." This squadron consisted of the following converted 
yachts: 

Corsair Lieutenant Commander T. A. Kittinger 

Aphrodite Lieutenant Commander R. P. Craft 

Noma Lieutenant Commander L. R. Leahy 

Kanawha Lieutenant Commander H. D. Cooke 

Vedette Lieutenant Commander C. L. Hand 

Christabel Lieutenant H. R. Riebe 

Harvard Lieutenant A. G. Stirling 

Sultana - Lieutenant E. G. Allen 

The squadron arrived at Brest on July 3rd. The day previous the Noma had 
sighted a periscope and depth-bombs were dropped, but the submarine disap- 
peared. The Sultana rescued 50 survivors of the steamship Orleans y sunk in the 
vicinity, apparently torpedoed by the same submarine w^hich the Noma had sighted . 
Rear Admiral Fletcher established headquarters in Brest, and pn July 14, the 
French national holiday, the American squadron began active service with the 
French Navy. Five days later the first attack on an American war vessel oc- 
curred, a torpedo being fired at the Noma. The submarine submerged and was 
not again sighted. The Noma also had a gun engagement with a large submarine 
on August 15th. 

The second squadron reached Brest the latter part of August; the Guinevere and 
Carola IV arriving August 29th, and the Alcedo, Wanderer, Remlik, Corona and 
Emeline on the 30th. 

Patrol Squadron 4, consisting of the Wakiva, Lewes, McNeal, James, Douglas, 
Bauman, Anderson, Courtney, Cahill, Rehohoth and Hinton, reached Brest Sep- 
tember i8th. They were accompanied by sixteen iio-foot submarine chasers 
which were turned over to the French Navy. 

TRANSPORT "aNTILLEs" SUNK BY SUBMARINE 

On October 17th, 191 7, occurred the first loss of an American transport, the 
Antilles, which was torpedoed by a submarine about 300 miles west of Quiberon 
Bay. The ship sank four minutes after she was struck. Sixty-seven lives were 
lost — 16 soldiers, 45 of the merchant crew, 4 of the naval gun crew, a civilian 
ambulance driver and a negro stevedore. The Antilles had sailed from Quiberon 
with the Henderson and Willehad, the Corsair, Kanawha and Alcedo acting as 
escort. Commander Daniel T. Ghent, the Senior Naval Officer on board, in a 
report gives this description of the sinking of the vessel: 

"Just after daylight a torpedo was sighted heading for us about two points 
abaft the port beam on a course of 45° with the keel. The torpedo was seen by the 
second officer on the bridge, the quartermaster and signalman on watch; by the 
first officer and first assistant engineer from the port side of the promenade deck, 
and by one of the gun crews on watch aft. They estimated the distance from 
400 feet to as many yards. Immediately on sighting the torpedo the helm was 
put 'hard over' in an attempt to dodge it, but before the ship began to swing the 
torpedo struck us near the after engine-room bulkhead on the port side. The 
explosion was terrific; the ship shivered from stem to stern, listing immediately to 
port. One of the lookouts in the main top, though protected by a canvas screen 
about 5 feet high, was thrown clear .of this screen and killed on striking the hatch. 
This case is sighted as indicating the power of the 'whip' caused by the explosion. 

[14] 



Guns were manned instantly in the hope of getting a shot at the enemy, but no 
submarine was seen. 

MEN IN ENGINE-ROOM KILLED 

"The explosion WTecked everything in the engine room, including the ice ma- 
chine and dynamo, and almost instantly flooded the engine room, fireroom, and 
No. 3 hold, which is just abaft the engine-room bulkhead. The engme room was 
filled w^ith ammonia fumes and with the high-pressure gases from the torpedo, 
and it is believed that everyone on duty in the engine room was either instantly 
killed or disabled except one oiler. This man happened to be on the upper gratings 
at the time. He tried to escape through the engine-room door, which is near the 
level of the upper gratings, but found the door jammed, and the knob on his side 
blown off. Unable to force the door, and finding he w^as being overcome by the 
gases and ammonia fumes, he managed to escape through the engine-room sky- 
light just as the ship was going under. Within a few seconds after the explosion 
the water was over the crossheads of the main engines, w^hich were still turning 
over slowly. Of the 21 men on duty in the engine room and firerooms only 3 man- 
aged to escape. Besides the oiler, 2 firemen managed to escape through a fireroom 
ventilator. The fact that the engines could not be maneuvered and the headway 
of the ship checked added to the difficulty of abandoning ship. 

"Just as the torpedo struck us I was on the w^ay to the pilot house from the scene 
of fire. Before I could reach the bridge the officer of the deck had sounded the 
submarine alarm, and I immediately sounded the signal for 'Abandon ship.' The 
officer on watch, quartermaster, and signalman went to their boats. Radio Elec- 
trician Watson being relieved by Radio Electrician Ausburne in the radio room, 
reported on the bridge for instructions. I sent an order to get out an S. O. S 
signal. Radio Electrician Watson, who was lost, remained with me on the bridge 
until the gun crews forward w^ere ordered to save themselves. He was wearing 
a life jacket and was on his way to his boat when I last saw him. 

GOOD ORDER AND DISCIPLINE PREVAILED 

"Before leaving port all boats had been rigged out except the two after boats, 
w^hich, owning to their low davits, could not with safety be rigged out except in 
favorable weather. All other boats had been lowered to the level of the prome- 
nade deck. All hands had been carefully instructed and carefully drilled in the 
details of abandoning ship. The best seamen in the ship's crew had been detailed 
and stationed by the falls; men had been stationed by the gripes of each boat, and 
all boats had been equipped with sea painters; two axes had been placed in each 
boat, one forward and one aft, for the purpose of cutting the falls or sea painters 
in case they should get jammed, and men had been detailed to cast them off. That 
only 4 boats out of 10 succeeded in getting clear of the ship was due to several 
causes — the short time the ship remained afloat after being torpedoed; the headway 
left on the ship, due to the fact that the engine-room personnel was put out of 
action by the explosion; the rough sea at the time; the fact that the ship listed 
heavily; and that one boat was destroyed by the explosion. 

*'When there was no one left in sight on the decks I went aft on the saloon deck, 
where several men were struggling in the water in the vicinity of No. 5 boat and 
making no attempt to swim away from the side of the ship. I thought perhaps 
these men could be induced to get clear of the ship, as it was feared the suction 
would carry them down. By the time that point was reached, however, the ship, 
being at an angle w^ith the horizontal of about 45 degrees, started to upend and go 

[15] 



down, listing heavily to port. This motion threw me across the deck where I 
was washed overboard. The ship went down vertically. The suction effect was 
hardly noticeable. 

GUNNERS AND RADIO MEN STAYED AT THEIR POSTS 

"The behavior of the naval personnel throughout was equal to the best tradi- 
tions of the service. The two forward gun crews, in charge of Lieutenant Tis- 
dale, remained at their gun stations while the ship went down, and made no move 
to leave their stations until ordered to save themselves. Radio Electrican Aus- 
burne went down with the ship while at his station in the radio room. When the 
ship was struck Ausburne and McMahon were asleep in adjacent bunks opposite 
the radio room. Ausburne, realizing the seriousness of the situation, told 
McMahon to get his life preserver on, saying, as he left to take his station at 
the radio key, *Good-bye, Mac' McMahon, later finding the radio room locked 
and seeing the ship was sinking, tried to get Ausburne out, but failed. 

*'As soon as the Henderson saw what was wrong she turned to starboard and made 
a thick smoke screen which completely hid her from view. The Willehad turned to 
port and made off at her best speed. The Corsair and Alcedo returned to the scene 
of the accident and circled for about two hours, when the Alcedo began the rescue 
of the survivors, the Corsair continuing to look for the submarine. The total 
number of persons on board the Antilles was 234, the Corsair rescuing 50 and the 
Alcedo 117. Too much credit cannot be given to the officers and men of the 
Corsair and Alcedo for their rescue work and for their whole-heartedness and gen- 
erosity in succoring the needs of the survivors. The work of the medical officers 
attached to the above vessels was worthy of highest praise. 

*'An instance comes back which indicates the coolness of the gun crews. One 
member was rescued from the top of an ammunition box which by some means 
had floated clear and in an upright position. When this young man saw the 
Corsair standing down to pick him up he semaphored not to come too close, as 
the box on which he was sitting contained live ammunition." 

"FINLAND" STRUCK BY TORPEDO 

Eleven days later the Finland y an army chartered transport, was struck by a 
torpedo not far from the French coast. Though the explosion blew a huge hole in 
the ship's side, she was successfully navigated to port, was repaired and put back 
into service. The senior naval officer on board. Captain Stephen V. Graham, 
in his report gave this account of the incident: 

"The weather was cloudy and a moderate sea with white caps was running and I 
was personally keeping a very careful lookout for submarines and was engaged in 
searching the water on both sides with powerful binoculars. At about 9:25 A. M. 
I had just finished searching the water on the starboard side when the naval signal 
quartermaster on watch called out, 'Commander, torpedo/ I turned and saw a 
torpedo about 50 to 100 yards distant making a surface run directly toward the 
ship. The whirring of the torpedo's propellers could be heard when they broke the 
surface of the water. The torpedo was so close to the ship when it was sighted 
that any maneuver to avoid it was entirely impossible. I sprang toward the 
engine telegraph to give the signal for stopping the engines, but before I could 
do this the torpedo exploded directly under the bridge. The concussive effect of 
the explosion was considerable, but not as great as had been anticipated. No 
one on the bridge was injured by it. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that the 

[16] 



enemy economized in the explosive charge of torpedoes destined for use against 
merchant vessels, and used only enough to produce the desired rupture in a vessel's 
skin plating. 

"Notwithstanding the fact that the torpedo was only 4 or 5 feet below the sur- 
face when it exploded against the ship's side an immense volume of water was 
thrown up. The engines were promptly stopped and the whistle signal made to 
indicate to the other vessels present that the ship had been torpedoed. It is a 
curious fact that most of the other vessels present did not know that the Finland 
had been torpedoed until this signal was made. 

SHIP RIGHTED HERSELF AFTER BLOW 

*T directed a radio operator to send out an S. O. S. call, but it was found that 
the aerial had been carried away by the force of the explosion. The first report 
that reached the bridge was that the forward fireroom was flooded. At this time 
it did not appear probable that the ship would sink, but in a short time she began 
to list heavily to starboard, and seemed to be settling. I ordered the lowering of 
the remaining boats which were hanging on their falls at the level of the promenade 
deck. These boats w^ere scarcely in the water when the ship began to right her- 
self, and the. acting master, Chief Officer John Jensen, who had been below to 
investigate the extent of the damage, returned to the bridge and reported to me 
that the damage had been confined to No. 4 hold, the bulkheads of which were 
intact. 

'Tn the meantime I observed Third Assistant Engineer George Mikkelsen, 
who had been on watch in the engine room when the torpedo struck the ship, 
moving about the main deck with a wooden mallet in his hand endeavoring to 
drive terrified firemen back to their stations. He came to the bridge and re- 
ported to me that the boilers and engines were not damaged and that the ship 
could be got under way again in a short time if he could get (he men back to their 
stations. 

"The compartment in which the damage had been done was hold No. 4, situated 
immediately forward of the firerooms and used as a reserve coal bunker. At the 
time the ship was torpedoed this hold contained about 600 tons of coal. After 
the ship had been placed in dry dock upon her return to France it was found that 
most of this coal had run out through the hole made in the ship's side by the explo- 
sion of the torpedo. 

HEAVY SQUALL HAMPERED RESCUE WORK. 

"When I received the master's report that the damage was confined to this one 
compartment, I hailed the boats which were close to the ship and directed them to 
come alongside and had a signal sent to the escorting yachts to send back to the 
Finland boats which were approaching them. These yachts, the Alcedo and 
Wakivay had come close to the Finland and lowered boats to rescue people who had 
been cast into the water by the dropping of the two boats mentioned above. The 
converted yacht Corsair and one of the destroyers were circling at high speed 
around the Finland and dropping depth charges, in order to prevent the enemy 
submarine from delivering a second attack on the crippled Finland. 

"While the Finland's boats were in the water a heavy squall came up and ren- 
dered the return of the heavily laden boats very difficult. They could come along- 
side only on the starboard side, and getting the people back on board was very slow 
work. Hoisting the boats was not to be thought of, for every moment that this 

[17] 



large ship remained stopped was attended with grave danger of receiving a second 
torpedo. As soon as the passengers w^ere out of the boats the latter were cast 
adrift. The ship got underway to return to a French port 150 miles distant. 
The Finland was escorted into port by the Corsair and one of the destroyers under 
the command of Commander F. N. Freeman. One destroyer remained with the 
Alcedo and Wakiva to afford them protection while they were picking up the re- 
mainder of the Finland's crew. The other two destroyers had proceeded with the 
two freighters, which steamed away at full power from the scene of the torpedoing 
of the Finland. 

"During the return of the ship to the French port it became necessary to send 
everyone to the fireroom who could shovel coal. Deck hands, stewards, and even 
passengers, including some of the discharged American ambulance drivers, re- 
sponded with alacrity to this call, and within a short time after starting ahead 
the ship was making nearly 15 knots, which was as good a speed as she had made 
at any time during her employment in the transport service. 

"The bulkheads of the damaged compartment held and there was no leakage of 
water through the water-tight doors leading into the forward fireroom and the 
adjacent hold. The doors were kept closed tightly with wooden wedges. 

YOUNGEST OFFICER STAYED BY HIS GUN 

"On the way into port the nervous tension of those on deck was greatly relieved 
by the necessity of laughing at the earnestness with which several lookouts re- 
ported a spouting whale as a submarine. It is regrettable that eight men lost 
their lives on the occasion of the torpedoing of the Finland. The coolness and re- 
sourcefulness of the acting master and engineer of the w^atch are deserving of com- 
mendation. Cadet Officer David McLaren was the youngest officer on board — 
just 18 years old. After I had ordered the lowering of the boats this lad, who was 
in charge of one of them and would have been entirely justified in leaving the ship 
which he believed to be sinking, returned to the bridge and reported to me that 
his boat was lowered and clear of the ship and asked if he could be of any service. 
He remained on the bridge rendering valuable assistance and displaying nerve and 
resourcefulness worthy of the best traditions of the sea. One naval lad was down 
in the living compartment cleaning up when the ship was struck. Some one in 
one of the boats hanging at the davits seeing him hurrying along the promenade 
deck asked him which boat he belonged to. He replied, 'Boat No. 4.' The in- 
quirer said, 'This is No. 4; jump in.' And the youngster replied, 'Oh, no, I 
have to go to my gun.* And he did. 

"The following-named naval officers were assigned to the Finland: Captain 
Stephen V. Graham, United States Navy; Lieutenant Clarkson J. Bright, United 
States Navy; Ensign William J. Forrestel, United States Navy. 

"A large number of survivors from the transport Antilles, which about 10 days 
previously had been torpedoed and sunk in four or five minutes, were on board the 
Finland when she was torpedoed. 

"A great many pieces of the torpedo which struck the Finla^id fell on deck and 
were collected and carefully guarded by the crew and passengers. One lad claimed 
that he had a piece which bore the name of the maker of the torpedo. When he 
produced it it was found to be one of the vertical rudders which bore the inscription 
'Rechts' (German for 'right'). 

"The submarine which fired the torpedo into the Finland W2ls seen neither before 
nor after it was fired. When the Finland was placed in dry dock at the French 

[18] 



port it was found that the torpedo had made a hole in the ship's side about 35 feet 
in horizontal direction near the water line and extending down to the bilge-keel 
in an irregular V shape. The compartment was completely gutted, and a period of 
two months was required to effect the necessary repairs." 

"alcedo" sunk by torpedo 

On November 5, the converted yacht Jlcedo, which had been on almost constant 
escort duty and had rescued 117 survivors of the Antilles when that vessel was 
torpedoed, was sunk by enemy submarine while escorting a convoy from Quiberon. 
The night was dark, the weather hazy, and at times even the ships of the convoy 
were not visible. One officer and twenty men of the crew were lost. Com- 
mander W. T. Conn, Jr., the commanding officer, having written his night orders, 
had left the bridge and turned in when the torpedo struck. He gave this personal 
account of the sinking of the vessel: 

"At or about 1:45 A. M., November 5, while sleeping in emergency cabin, imme- 
diately under upper bridge, I was awakened by a commotion and immediatel}^ re- 
ceived a report from some man unknown, 'Submarine, captain.* I jumped out of 
bed and went to the upper bridge, and the officer of the deck. Lieutenant Paul, 
stated he had sounded 'general quarters,' had seen submarine on surface about 300 
yards on port bow, and submarine had fired a torpedo, which was approaching. I 
took station on port wing of upper bridge and saw torpedo approaching about 200 
feet distant. Lieutenant Paul had put the rudder full right before I arrived on 
bridge, hoping to avoid the torpedo. The ship answered slowly to her helm, how- 
ever, and before any other action could be taken the torpedo I saw struck the 
ship's side immediately under the port forward chain plates, the detonation occur- 
ring instantly. I was thrown down and for a few seconds dazed by falling debris 
and water. 

SUBMARINE ALARM SOUNDED 

"Upon regaining my feet I sounded the submarine alarm on the siren, to call all 
hands if they had not heard the general alarm gong, and to direct the attention of 
the convoy and other escorting vessels. Called to the forward gun crews to see 
if at stations, but by this time realized that the top gallant forecastle was 
practically awash. The foremast had fallen, carrying away radio aerial, I 
called out to abandon ship. 

"I then left the upper bridge and went into the chart house to obtain ship's 
position from the chart, but, as there was no light, could not see. I went out of 
the chart house and met the navigator. Lieutenant Leonard, and asked him if he 
had sent any radio, and he replied 'No.' I directed him and accompanied him to 
the main deck and told him to take charge of cutting away forward dories and life 
rafts. 

"I then proceeded along starboard gangway and found a man lying face down in 
gangway. I stooped and rolled him over and spoke to him, but received no reply 
and was unable to learn his identity, owing to the darkness. It is my opinion that 
this man was dead. 

"I continued to the after end of ship, took station on after-gun platform. I 
realized that the ship was filling rapidly and her bulwarks amidships were level 
with the water. I directed the after dories and life rafts to be cut away and 
thrown overboard and ordered the men in the immediate vicinity to jump over the 
side, intending to follow them. 

[19] 



CAPTAIN CARRIED DOWN BY SHIP S SUCTION 

"Before I could jump, however, the ship Usted heavily to port, plunging by the 
head, and sank, carrying me down with the suction. I experienced no difficulty, 
however, in getting clear, and when I came to the surface I swam a few yards to a 
life raft, to which were clinging three men. We climbed on board this raft and 
upon looking around observed Doyle, chief boatswain's mate, and one other man 
in the whaleboat. We paddled to the whaleboat and embarked from the life raft. 

"The whaleboat was about half full of water, and we immediately started bailmg 
and then to rescue men from wreckage, and quickly filled the whaleboat to more 
than its maximum capacity, so that no others could be taken aboard. We then 
picked up two overturned dories which were nested together, separated them and 
righted them, only to find out that their sterns had been broken. We then located 
another nest of dories, which were separated and righted and found to be sea- 
worthy. Transferred some men from the whaleboat into these dories and pro- 
ceeded to pick up other men from wreckage. During this time cries were heard 
from two men in the water some distance away who were holding on to wreckage 
and calling for assistance. It is believed that these men were Ernest M. Har- 
rison, mess attendant, and John Winne, Jr., seaman. As soon as the dories were 
available we proceeded to where they were last seen, but could find no trace of them. 

SUBMARINE APPEARED AMONG LIFE BOATS 

"About this time, which was probably an hour after the ship sank, a German 
submarine approached the scene of torpedoing and lay to near some of the dories 
and Hfe rafts. She was in the light condition, and from my observation of her I 
am of the opinion that she was of the U-2'/-ji type. This has been confirmed by 
having a number of men and officers check the silhouette book. The submarine 
was probably lOO yards distant from my whaleboat, and I heard no remarks from 
anyone on the submarine, although I observed three persons standing on top of 
conning tower. After la3nng on surface about half an hour the submarine steered 
off and submerged. 

'T then proceeded with the whaleboat and two dories searching through the 
wreckage to make sure that no survivors were left in the water. No other people 
being seen, at 4:30 A. M. we started away from the scene of the disaster. 

"The Alcedo was sunk, as near as I can estimate, 75 miles west true of north end 
of Belle He. The torpedo struck ship at 1:46 by the officer of the deck's watch, 
and the same watch stopped at 1:54 A. M., November 5, this showing that the 
ship remained afloat eight minutes. 

MEN IN BOATS ROWED FOR MANY HOURS 

"The flare of Penmark Light was visible, and I headed for it and ascertained 
the course by Polaris to be approximately northeast. We rowed until 1:15, when 
Penmark Lighthouse was sighted. Continued rowing until 5:15 P. M., when Pen- 
mark Lighthouse was distant about 2}4 miles. W^e were then picked up by French 
torpedo boat 275, and upon going on board I requested the commanding officer to 
radio immediately to Brest reporting the fact of torpedoing and that 3 officers 
and 40 men were proceeding to Brest. The French gave all assistance possible for 
the comfort of the survivors. We arrived at Brest about 11 P. M. Those re- 
quiring medical attention were sent to the hospital and the others were sent off 
to the Panther to be quartered. 

"Upon arrival at Brest I was informed that two other dories containing Lieu- 

[20] 



tenant H. R. Leonard, Lieutenant H. A. Peterson, Passed Assistant Surgeon 
Paul O. M. Andreae, and 25 men had landed at Pen March Point. This was my 
first information that these officers and men had been saved, as they had not been 
seen by any of my party at the scene of torpedoing." 

EXTENSIVE SYSTEM ESTABLISHED ON FRENCH COAST 

Rear Admiral (now Vice Admiral) Henry B. Wilson on November i, 191 7, took 
command of all U. S. Naval Forces Operating in French waters. Rear Admiral 
Fletcher had been detached from command of the Patrol Squadrons on October 
20th, turning over the command to Captain T. P. Magruder. Admiral Wilson 
put into effect a comprehensive system which embraced not only the patrol and 
escort ships operating in French waters, but also the Navy's activities in Frencl'i 
ports, whose facilities had to be greatly enlarged to accommodate the large number 
of American troops and the immense quantities of supplies and munitions arriving. 
A number of aviation bases were also established on the French Coast. Captain 
Hutch L Cone w^as made ^'Commander U. S. Naval Aviation Forces, Foreign 
Service,'* and exercised general supervision over our aviation activities in England, 
as well as France. Admiral Wilson built up a notably efficient organization 
which, working in close connection with the French Navy, soon curtailed subma- 
rine activities in that region and made comparatively safe the French ports at 
which American troops were landed. 

"CASSIN," HIT BY TORPEDO, SAVED BY QUICK ACTION 

The American destroyers operating in the war zone had been on constant duty 
for seven months before the first and only one sunk by enemy submarine, the 
Jacob Jones y was torpedoed. The little Chauncey, of 592 tons displacement, had 
been, on November 19th, sunk in collision with a British transport, 18 lives being 
lost. The Cassin was struck by a torpedo on October 15, but was taken to port 
and repaired. But one man was killed. Gunner's Mate Osmond K. Ingram, who 
gave his life to save the ship. To commemorate this courageous act. Secretary 
Daniels named one of the new destroyers the Ingram. Commander W. N. Vernou 
was in command of the Cassiuy W'hich was patrolling off the Irish coast about 20 
miles south of Mine Head when, at 1:30 P. M., a submarine was sighted some 
distance away. The Cassin went at full speed for the spot, but the submarine 
had submerged. 

What occurrred afterward is told in the official report: 

"At about 1:57 P. M. the commanding officer sighted a torpedo apparently 
shortly after it had been fired, running near the surface and in a direction that was 
estimated would make a hit either in the engine or fire room. When first seen the 
torpedo was between 300 and 400 yards from the ship, and the wake could 
be followed on the other side for about 400 yards. The torpedo was running at 
high speed, at least 35 knots. The Cassin was maneuvering to dodge the torpedo, 
double emergency full speed ahead having been signaled from the engine room and 
the rudder put hard left as soon as the torpedo w'as sighted. It looked for the 
moment as though the torpedo would pass astern. When about 15 or 20 feet 
away the torpedo porpoised, completely leaving the water and sheering to the left. 
Before again taking the water the torpedo hit the ship well aft on the port side 
about frame 163 and above the water line. Almost immediately after the explosion 
of the torpedo the depth charges, located on the stern and ready for firing, ex- 
ploded . There were two distinct explosions in quick succession after the torpedo hit. 

[21] 



GAVE HIS LIFE TO SAVE HIS SHIP 

**But one life was lost. Osmond K. Ingram, gunner's mate first class, was 
cleaning the muzzle of No. 4 gun, target practice being just over when the attack 
occurred. With rare presence of mind, realizing that the torpedo was about to 
strike the part of the ship where the depth charges were stored and that the setting 
off of these explosives might sink the ship, Ingram, immediately seeing the danger, 
ran aft to strip these charges and throw them overboard. He was blown to pieces 
when the torpedo struck. Thus Ingram sacrificed his life in performing a duty 
which he believed would save his ship and the lives of the officers and men on board. 

"Nine members of the crew received minor injuries. 

"After the ship was hit, the crew was kept at general quarters. 

"The executive officer and engineer officer inspected the parts of the ship that 
were damaged, and those adjacent to the damage. It was found that the engine 
and fire rooms and after magazine were intact and that the engines could be worked; 
but that the ship could not be steered, the rudder having been blown off and the 
stern blown to starboard. The ship continued to turn to starboard in a circle. 
In an effort to put the ship on a course by the use of the engines, something carried 
away which put the starboard engine out of commission. The port engine was 
kept going at slow speed. The ship, being absolutely unmanageable, sometimes 
turned in a circle and at times held an approximate course for several minutes. 

"Immediately after the ship was torpedoed the radio was out of commission. 
The radio officer and radio electrician chief managed to improvise a temporary 
auxiliary antenna. The generators were out of commission for a short time after 
the explosion, the ship being in darkness below. 

SUBMARINE AGAIN SIGHTED 

"When this vessel was torpedoed, there was another United States destoryer, 
name unknown, within signal distance. She had acknowledged our call by search- 
light before we were torpedoed. After being torpedoed, an attempt was made to 
signal her by searchlight, flag, and whistle, and the distress signal was hoisted. 
Apparently through a misunderstanding she steamed away and was lost sight of. 

"At about 2:30 P. M., when we were in approximately the same position as 
when torpedoed, a submarine conning tower was sighted on port beam, distant 
about 1,500 yards, ship still circling under port engine. Opened fire with No. 2 
gun, firing four rounds. Submarine submerged and was not seen again. Two 
shots struck very close to submarine. 

"At 3:50 P. M., U. S. S. Porter stood by. At 4:25 P. M., wreckage which 
was hanging to stern dropped off. At dark stopped port engine and drifted. At 
about 9P.M.,H.M.S. Jessamine and H. M. S. Tamarisk stood by. H. M. S. 
Jessamine signalled she would stand by until morning and then take us in tow. 
At this time sea was very rough, wind about six or seven (34 or 40 miles an hour) 
and increasing. 

"H. M.S. Tamarisk prepared to take us in tow and made one attempt after an- 
other to get a line to us. Finally, about 2:10 A. M., October i6th, the Tamarisk 
lowered a boat in rough sea and sent grass line by means of which our 8-inch hawser 
was sent over to her. At about 2:30 A. M. Tamarisk started towing us to Queens- 
town, speed about 4 knots, this vessel towing well on starboard quarter of Tama- 
risk, due to condition of stern described above. At 3:25 hawser parted. 

"Between this time and 10:37 A. M., when a towing line was received from 
H. M. S. Snowdrop y various attempts were made by the Tamarisk and two trawlers 

[22] 



and a tug to tow the Cassin. An i i-Inch towing hawser from the Tamarisk parted. 
All ships, except her, lost the Cassin during the night. The Cassin was drifting 
rapidly on a lee shore, and had it not been for the Tamarisk getting out a line in the 
early morning, the vessel would undoubtedly have grounded on Hook Point, as it 
is extremely doubtful if her anchors would have held. 

35 FEET OF STERN BLOWN OFF 

"About 35 feet of the stern was blown off or completely ruptured. The after 
living compartments and after storerooms are completely wrecked or gone, and all 
stores and clothing from these parts of the ship are gone or ruined. About 45 
members of the crew, including the chief petty officers, lost practically everything 
but the clothes they had on. 

"At the time of the explosion there were a number of men in the after compart- 
ments. How they managed to escape is beyond explanation. 

"The officers and crew behaved splendidly. There was no excitement. The 
men went to their stations quietly and remained there all night, except when 
called away to handle lines. 

"The work of the executive officer. Lieutenant J. W. McClaran, and of the 
engineer officer. Lieutenant J. A. Saunders, is deserving of especial commen- 
dation. These two officers inspected magazines and spaces below decks and 
superintended shoring of bulkheads and restaying of masts. Lieutenant (junior 
grade) R. M. Parkinson did excellent work in getting an improvised radio set into 
commission. W. J. Murphy, chief electrician (radio), and F. R. Fisher, chief 
machinist's mate, are specifically mentioned in the commanding officer's report 
for their cool and efficient work. 

"Twenty-two enlisted men are mentioned by name as conspicuous for their 
coolness and leadership. 

"From the statement of all the officers it is evident that luck favored the sub- 
marine. The destroyer probably would have escaped being hit had not the tor- 
pedo broached twice and turned decidedly to the left both times- — in other words, 
failed to function properly. 

850 FOUNDS OF TNT EXPLODED 

"The equivalent of 850 pounds of TNT is estimated to have exploded in and 
upon the Cassin s fantail; this includes the charges of the torpedo and of both depth 
mines. No 4 gun, blown overboard, left the ship to port, although that was the 
side which the torpedo hit. The gun went over at a point well forward of her 
mount. The mass of the wreckage, however, went to starboard. Explosion of 
the depth charges, rather than that of the torpedo outward or in throwback, sup- 
posedly effected this. About five seconds elapsed between the torpedo's deto- 
nation and those of the mines. They probably went off close together, for ac- 
counts vary as to whether there were in all two or three explosions. 

"The miracle by which the twenty-odd men in the three wrecked after living 
compartments escaped with only minor injuries is most striking in the case of f\ 
W. Kruse, fireman, first class. He was asleep in his bunk on the port side, only a 
few feet forward of the torpedo's point of impact into the storerooms. Four 
frames, 84 inches of side, were disrupted immediately alongside his body. He 
made his way through each of the three compartments, climbed the ladder to the 
main deck, in a state of unconsciousness, and did not regain his mind until he had 
gone forward as far as No. 4 stack. His duty was in No. 2 fireroom, which it is 
believed his subconsciousness was urging him toward. 

[23] 



"Others caught below in the crew space probably did their duty of dogging the 
water-tight doors from a like cause and in a similar state. The two doors leading 
into the after compartment, and the door between the C. P. O.'s (chief petty- 
officers') quarters and the engine-room P. O.'s (petty officer's) quarters were all 
found firmly and perfectly dogged. Yet all the men escaping up the ladder from 
this deck declared that from the first instant of the explosion they had been abso- 
lutely blinded. Seven men were in the after space, and about the same number 
in each of the two others. 

BULKHEAD SHORED WITH MATTRESSES 

"Of the two after doors, that to port threatened to carry away soon after the 
seas began to pound in. The main mass of the wreckage which dropped off did so 
upward of an hour after the explosions. It was at this time that the bulkhead 
began to buckle and the port door and dogging weaken. It was shored with mat- 
tresses under the personal direction of the executive. Up to this time and until 
the seas began to crumple the bulkhead completely, there was only a few inches of 
wat^er in the two P. O. compartments; and even when the Cassin reached Queens- 
town, hardly more than three feet. None of the compartments directly under 
these three on the deck below — handling room, magazine, and oil tanks — were 
injured at all. The tanks were farthest aft, and were pumped out after docking. 

"One piece of metal entered the wash room and before coming to rest com- 
pletely circled it without touching a man who was standing in the center of the 
compartment. Another stray piece tore a 6-inch hole in one of the stacks. 

"The destroyer within signal distance at the time of the attack was the U. S. S. 
Porter. It is believed that she saw the explosion, at least of the two depth charges, 
and thinking that the Cassin was attacking a submarine, started off scouting before 
a signal could be sent and after the radio was out of commission." 

THE "jACOB JONEs" SUNK BY SUBMARINE 

It was late in the afternoon of December 6, 191 7, that the Jacob Jones was sunk, 
with the loss of one officer. Lieutenant (junior grade) Stanton F. Kalk, of Wash- 
ington, D. C, and 61 men of the crew, the most serious naval loss that had oc- 
curred up to that time. The commanding officer. Lieutenant Commander David 
W. Bagley, in his official report gave this account: 

"At 4:21 P. M. on December 6, 1917, in latitude 49-23 north, longitude 6-13 
west, clear weather, smooth sea, speed 13 knots, zigzagging, the U. S. S. Jacob 
Jones was struck on the starboard side by a torpedo from an enemy submarine. 
The ship was one of six of an escorting group which were returning independently 
from off Brest to Queenstown. All other ships of the group were out of sight ahead. 

"I was in the chart house and heard some one call out 'Torpedo.' I jumped at 
once to the bridge, and on the way up saw the torpedo about 800 yards 
from the ship approaching from about one point abaft the starboard beam headed 
for a point about midships, making a perfectly straight surface run (alternately 
broaching and submerging to apparently four or five feet), at an estimated speed 
of at least 40 knots. No periscope was sighted. When I reached the bridge I 
found that the officer of the deck had already put the rudder hard left and rung up 
emergency speed on the engine-room telegraph. The ship had already begun to 
swing to the left. I personally rang up emergency speed again and then turned 
to watch the torpedo. The executive officer. Lieutenant Norman Scott, left the 
chart house just ahead of me, saw the torpedo immediately on getting outside the 
door, and estimates that the torpedo when he sighted it was 1,000 yards away, 

[24] 





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approaching from one point, or slightly less, abaft the beam and making exceed- 
ingly high speed. 

couldn't avoid the torpedo 

"After seeing the torpedo and realizing the straight run, line of approach, and 
high speed it was making, I was convinced that it was impossible to maneuver to 
avoid it. Lieutenant (junior grade) S. F. Kalk was officer of the deck at the time, 
and I consider that he took correct and especially prompt measures in maneuvering 
to avoid the torpedo. Lieutenant Kalk was a very able officer, calm and col- 
lected in emergency. He had been attached to the ship for about two months and 
had shown especial aptitude. His action in this emergency entirely justified my 
confidence in him. I deeply regret to state that he was lost as a result of the tor- 
pedoing of the ship, dying of exposure on one of the rafts, 

''The torpedo broached and jumped clear of the w^ater at a short distance from 
the ship, submerged about 50 or 60 feet from the ship, and struck approximately 
three feet below the water line in the fuel-oil tank between the auxiliary room and 
the after crew space. The ship settled aft immediately after being torpedoed 
to a point at which the deck just forward of the after deck house was awash, and 
then more gradually until the deck abreast the engine-room hatch was awash. 
A man on watch in the engine room, D. R. Carter, oiler, attempted to close the 
water-tight door between the auxiliary room and the engine room, but was unable 
to do so against the pressure of water from the auxiliary room. 

DECK BLOWN CLEAR FOR TWENTY FEET 

"The deck over the forward part of the after crew space and over the fuel-oil 
tank just forward of it was blown clear for a space athwartships of about 20 feet 
from starboard to port, and the auxiliary room wrecked. 1 he starboard after 
torpedo tube was blown into the air. No fuel oil ignited and, apparently, no 
ammunition exploded. The depth charges in the chutes aft were set on ready and 
exploded after the stern sank. It was impossible to get to them to set them on 
safe as they were under water. Immediately the ship was torpedoed. Lieutenant 
J. K. Richards, the gunnery officer, rushed aft to attempt to set the charges on 
'safe,' but was unable to get further aft than the after deck house. 

"As soon as the torpedo struck I attempted to send out an 'S. O. S.' message 
by radio, but the mainmast was carried away, antennae falling, and all electric 
power had failed. I then tried to have the gun-sight lighting batteries con- 
nected up in an eflPort to send out a low-power message with them, but it was at 
once evident that this would not be practicable before the ship sank. There 
was no other vessel in sight, and it was therefore impossible to get through a dis- 
tress signal of any kind. 

"Immediately after the ship was torpedoed every effort was made to get rafts 
and boats launched. Also the circular life belts from the bridge and several 
splinter mats from the outside of the bridge were cut adrift and afterwards proved 
very useful in holding men up until they could be got to the rafts. Weighted con- 
fidential publications were thrown over the side. There was no time to destroy 
other confidential matter, but it went down with the ship. 

SHIP SANK IN EIGHT MINUTES 

"The ship sank about 4:29 P. M. (about eight minutes after being torpedoed). 
As I saw her settling rapidly, I ran along the deck and ordered everybody I saw to 
jump overboard. At this time most of those not killed by the explosion were 

[25] 



clear of the ship and were on rafts or wreckage. Some, however, were swimming 
and a few appeared to be about a ship's length astern of the ship, at some distance 
from the rafts, probably having jumped overboard very soon after the ship was 
struck. 

''Before the ship sank two shots were fired from No. 4 gun with the hope of 
attracting attention of some near-by ship. As the ship began sinking I jumped 
overboard. The ship sank stern first and twisted slowly through nearly 180 de- 
grees as she swung upright. From this nearly vertical position, bow in the air to 
about the forward funnel, she went straight down. Before the ship reached the 
vertical position the depth charges exploded, and I believe them to have caused 
the death of a number of men. They also partially paralyzed, stunned, or dazed 
a number of others, including Lieutenant Kalk and myself and several men, 
some of whom are still disabled but recovering. 

SURVIVORS GATHERED ON RAFTS 

"Immediate efforts were made to get all survivors on the rafts and then get rafts 
and boats together. Three rafts were launched before the ship sank and one 
floated off" when she sank. The motor dory, hull undamaged but engine out of 
commission, also floated off, and the punt and wherry also floated clear. The 
punt was wrecked beyond usefulness, and the wherry was damaged and leaking 
badly, but was of considerable use in getting men to the rafts. The whaleboat 
was launched but capsized soon afterwards, having been damaged by the explo- 
sion of the depth charges. The motor sailer did not float clear, but went down 
with the ship. 

"About 15 or 20 minutes after the ship sank the submarine appeared on the sur- 
face about two or three miles to the westward of the rafts, and gradually approached 
until about 800 to i ,000 yards from the ship, where it stopped and was seen to pick 
up one unidentified man from the water. The submarine then submerged and 
was not seen again. 

"I was picked up by the motor dor}^ and at once began to make arrangements 
to try to reach the Scillys in that boat in order to get assistance to those on the 
rafts. All the survivors then in sight were collected and I gave orders to Lieu- 
tenant Richards to keep them together. 

STARTED OUT IN BOAT TO SEEK HELP 

"Lieutenant Scott, the navigating officer, had fixed the ship's position a few 
minutes before the explosion and both he and I knew accurately the course to be 
steered, I kept Lieutenant Scott to assist me and four men who were in good 
condition in the boat to man the oars, the engine being out of commission. With 
the exception of some emergency rations and half a bucket of water, all provisions, 
including medical kits, were taken from the dory and left on the rafts. There 
was no apparatus of any kind which could be used for night signaling. 

"After a very trying trip during which it was necessary to steer by stars and by 
the direction of the wind, the dory was picked up about i P. M., 7 December, 
by a small patrol vessel about six miles south of St. Mary's. Commander Randal, 
R. N. R., Senior Naval Officer, Scilly Isles, informed me that the other survivors 
had been rescued. 

"One small raft (which had been separated from the others from the first) was 
picked up by the S. S, Catalina at 8 P. M., 6 December. After a most trying 
experience through the night, the remaining survivors w^ere picked up by the 
H. M. S. Camellia, at 8:30 A. M., 7 December." 

[26] 



Bagley in his report especially commended Lieutenant Norman Scott, executive 
officer; Lieutenant Kalk, Lieutenant (junior grade) N. N. Gates; C. Charlesworth, 
boatswain's mate, second class; P. J. Burger, seaman, second class, who risked his 
life in efforts to get a life boat floated from the ship; L. J, Kelly, chief electrician; 
H. V. Chase, quartermaster, third class; H. L. Gibson, chief boatswain's mate, 
and E. Meier, water tender. Of Lieutenant Kalk, he said: 

''Lieutenant (junior grade) S, F. Kalk, during the early part of the evening, but 
already in a weakened condition, swam from one raft to another in an effort to 
equalize weight on the rafts. The men who were on the raft with him state, in 
their own words, that 'He was game to the last.' " 

The memory of Kalk is preserved in a new destroyer which bears his name. 

AMERICAN SUBMARINES SENT OVER 

Submarines had been successfully used by the British against enemy U-boats, 
and in the autumn of 191 7 American submarines were sent abroad to co-operate 
with the British forces. The first detachment, comprising six of the "K" class, 
sailed from Provincetown, Mass., October 13th. The second detachment, which 
included six of the "L" and one of the "E" class, with the Bushnell as "mother 
ship," and three tugs accompanying, sailed from Newport on December 4th. The 
principal American submarine base was Berehaven, Bantry Bay, on the Irish 
coast, from which they operated over a wide area until the end of U-boat warfare. 

U. S. BATTLESHIPS JOINED BRITISH FLEET 

The German High Seas Fleet being held behind its strong defenses and not 
venturing to give battle to the British Fleet which, with its allies, held control of 
the seas, there appeared to be, in the first few months after our entrance into the 
war, no necessity for sending battleships abroad. But, in the late autumn, it 
was decided to send over a division of battleships to co-operate with the British. 
On November 25th Battleship Division 9, composed of the New York, Delaware, 
Wyoming, Florida and Texas, under command of Rear Admiral Hugh Rodman, 
sailed from Hampton Roads. They arrived at Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands, on 
December 7th, and a week later joined the British Grand Fleet, with which they 
served for a year. The American battleships constituted a regular division of the 
Grand Fleet and did their full share of the work on the British coast and in the 
North Sea. They were present when the flower of the German High Seas Fleet sur- 
rendered, under the terms of the armistice, off Scapa Flow on November 21st, 1918. 

In August, 191 8, Battleship Division 6, composed of the Nevada, Oklahoma 
and Utah, under command of Rear Admiral T. S. Rodgers, was sent across, sailing 
from Norfolk, and having their base at Berehaven, Ireland. 

RETURNED ON CHRISTMAS DAY 

All these battleships gathered off Brest in December, 191 8, to receive President 
Wilson on his first trip to France to attend the Peace Conference. Immediately 
afterward, accompanied by the Pennsylvania, Admiral Mayo's flagship, which had 
escorted the President to France, the battleships sailed for home waters, arriving 
off New York Christmas Day. The day following a big naval review and parade 
was held, the battleships being reviewed by the Secretary of the Navy. On his 
arrival, Admiral Rodman gave an interesting review of the work of the battleship 
division with the British Grand Fleet, in which he said: 

"Sometimes we were commanded by British Admirals, sometimes they served 
under my command; ytt there was never the slightest friction, misunderstanding 

[27] 



or petty jealousies. In fact our mutual association in this war's work has drawn us 
so close together that in the Grand Fleet it was instrumental in ripening friendship 
with brotherhood. 

"It is most gratifying to state, that within a very short time after joining and 
after our first operations with the Grand Fleet, we were assigned to one of the two 
places of honor and importance in the battle line. We were known and designated 
as the Sixth Battle Squadron, and as one of the two so-called fast wings, would 
take station at the head or rear of the whole battleship force, dependent upon cer- 
tain conditions unnecessary to mention, when going into action. As a matter of 
fact when on one occasion we came within a few miles of cutting off from its base 
and engaging the German fleet, the disposition was such that the American battle- 
ship division would have been in the van and have led into action had the enemy not 
avoided action and taken refuge behind his defense as usual before w^e could catch 
him. 

ALWAYS AFTER THE ENEMY 

"It was our policy to go after him every time he showed his nose outside of his 
ports; no matter when or where, w^hether in single ships, by divisions, or his whole 
fleet, out we went, day or night, rain or shine (and there was mighty little daylight 
and much less shine in the winter months) blow high, or blow low, and chased him 
back into his hole. 

"So persistent was this performance on our part, so sure were we to get after him, 
that toward the end he rarely ventured more than a few miles from his base, and 
immediately we would start after him, back he would go into his hole and haul his 
hole in after him. 

"In our operations in the North Sea we were frequently attacked by submarines, 
and our battleships had numerous narrow escapes, often only by prompt and 
skilful handling. 

SUBMARINE RAMMED THE "nEW YORK" 

"On one occasion a submarine rammed the fiagship Nezu York, dented the bot- 
tom, demolished the starboard propeller. But there is every reason to believe that 
the blows from the propeller sank the submarine. En route to drydock, to make 
repairs and install a new propeller, three torpedoes in rapid succession were fired 
at her by hostile submarines. But again she avoided them by clever maneuvering 
and escaped. 

FLAGSHIP narrowly ESCAPED TORPEDOES 

"Once when guarding or supporting a convoy of thirty or forty vessels on the 
coast of Norway in midwinter a bunch of hostile subs fired six torpedoes at us. 
Again only our vigilance and instantaneous maneuvering saved us, but by a very 
narrow margin. 

"Let it be sufficient to say that during our absence of a year there was no other 
condition than that of constant and continuous readiness for action. There was no 
liberty or leave worth mentioning; no one allowed away from the ships after dark, 
nor for a period larger than four hours, and then only in the immediate vicinity oi 
the ship, subject to recall. All ships were completely closed and darkened from 
sunset to sunrise as a precaution against air and other attacks; in winter this 
means from fifteen to eighteen hours per day. This, in an all but Arctic climate, 
was one of our many hardships. 

"With all the demands which have been placed upon the ships of this division, 
in spite of this constant readiness for action, it is no exaggeration to say, that 

[28] 



were they called upon to do so, they could steam around the world as they are 
now, and still be ready to go into action. 

65-MILE COLUMN OF SHIPS 

*'To give an idea of the immense size and number of vessels employed in the 
Grand Fleet, it might be of interest here to state that entering or leaving port, 
our column of ships, excluding destroyers, was on an average about 65 miles long; 
on one occasion, 76 miles. Its length was dependent upon weather and other 
conditions, as well as upon the number of ships. 

"And so, after four years of war for the Grand Fleet, no more complete victory 
was ever won, nor a more disgraceful and humiliating end could not have come to a 
powerful and much vaunted fleet, than that which came to the German High Seas 
Fleet. Let me try to describe it to you. 

"A light British cruiser w^as directed to meet the Germans, who were heading 
west, and conduct them in between our two columns. 

"Here let me diverge for a moment and recall to the minds of any of you who 
have been in China or the Philippines the viciousness of and antipathy which the 
domesticated carabao has for a white man. How ready they are to attack, while 
any native child can with perfect safety and impunity go up to the most savage of 
them, take them by the nose and lead them where he pleases. 

SURRENDER OF THE GERMAN FLEET 

"And so I was reminded of this when a little British cruiser rounded to ahead 
of the much vaunted German High Seas Fleet and hoisted the signal, 'Follow me,' 
and led them down between our columns, where our battle flags were mastheaded, 
turrets trained toward the enemy, crews at battle stations and all in readiness for 
any sort of treachery that might be attempted. 

"At a prearranged signal our forces swung symmetrically through 180 degrees, 
and still paralleling the enveloped Germans, conducted them into a designated 
anchorage in the entrance of the Firth of Forth. 

"Then came a signal from the commander-in-chief to the surrendered fleet: 

'' 'At sundown lower your colors and do not hoist them again without permission.' 

"Surely no greater humiliation could have befallen them after their frequent 
and taunting boasts and threats. 

"There is little else to be told. After an inspection by British and American 
oflRcers to gain assurance that the ships were disarmed, they were sent in groups, 
under guard, to Scapa Flow, in the cold, dreary, bleak, God-forsaken harbor where 
the Grand Fleet had spent many a dreary month and year waiting like ferocious 
dogs in leash, watching and waiting to pounce on the German fleet should the 
opportunity ever occur. 

"Here the Germans now lie at anchor in long, symmetrical lines, helpless, 
innocuous, harmless; their sting and bite removed; their national colors lowered 
for good, and all as a token of submission to their masters. They are guarded by a 
single division of battleships." 

BASES AT GIBRALTAR AND IN THE AZORES 

The Mediterranean was the scene of considerable submarine activity in our first 
year at war, and many vessels were sunk in that region. To insure closer qp-opera- 
tion with the British, French and Italian forces, a United States naval base was 
estabhshed at Gibraltar, Rear Admiral A. P. Niblack assuming command Novem- 
ber 25, 1917. The increase in patrol and escort vessels and the improved system 

[29] 



established by the Allies soon resulted in a marked reduction in sinkings and a 
greater measure of safety to vessels sailing through those waters. 

The Azores, those Portuguese islands which formed a convenient half-way stop- 
ping place between America and Europe, became of considerable importance, and 
a naval base was established there in January, 191 8, with Rear Admiral Herbert O. 
Dunn in command. 

U. S. SUB-CHASERS IN ATTACK ON DURAZZO 

To co-operate with the Italian and British fleets operating against Austria in 
the Adriatic, a flotilla of submarine chasers was sent to Corfu. In the operation of 
October 2d, 1918, which resulted in the destruction of the Austrian naval base at 
Durazzo, a dozen American sub-chasers, under command of Captain Charles P. 
Nelson and Lieutenant Commander E. H. Bastedo, played a conspicuous part. 
They were credited with sinking one enemy submarine and the probable de- 
struction of another; under bombardment they screened larger ships from torpedo 
attack, and went to the aid of a British cruiser which was torpedoed. 

SANK AUSTRIAN U-BOATS 

The British Force Commander, in a despatch forwarded by the British 
Admiralty to Admiral Sims, wrote: 

"I am most grateful for the valuable service rendered by twelve submarine 
chasers under Captain Nelson, U. S. N., and Lieutenant Commander Bastedo, 
U. S. N., which I took the liberty of employing in an operation against Durazzo 
on October 2d. They screened heavy ships during the bombardments under enemy 
fire; also apparently destroyed definitely one submarine which torpedoed H. M. S. 
Weymouth, and damaged and probably destroyed another submarine. During the 
return voyage they assisted in screening H. M. S.. Weymouthy and in escorting 
enemy hospital ship which was being brought in for examination. Their conduct 
throughout was beyond praise. They all returned safely without casualties. 
They thoroughly enjoyed themselves." 

A despatch to Admiral Sims from Rome stated: 

"Italian Naval General Staff expresses highest appreciation of useful and effi- 
cient work performed by United States chasers in protecting major naval vessels 
during action against Durazzo; also vivid admiration of their brilliant and clever 
operations which resulted in sinking two enemy submarines." 

SUB-CHASERS STAUNCH AND SEAWORTHY 

More than 400 of these iio-foot submarine chasers were built, and they proved 
their worth in foreign as w^ell as home waters. Young reservists, with Lieutenant 
(junior grade) Roscoe Howard, U. S. N. R. F., in command, brought a group of 
them from Puget Sound through the Panama Canal to New London, Conn., 
7,000 miles. One of these sub-chasers manned by French sailors was separated 
from its companions in a terrific storm alone in mid-Atlantic, given up as lost; 
but a month later reached the Azores, having been navigated to port with sails 
made from bed clothing. After repairs that Chaser, No. 28, went on across and 
ever since has been on duty on the coast of France. 

SINKING OF THE "PRESIDENT LINCOLN" 

The most serious loss in our transport service was that of the President Lincohiy 
which was sunk by submarine, about 700 miles from the French coast, on May 31, 
1918, Of the 715 men aboard, all but 27 were rescued; 3 officers and 23 men being 

[30] 



lost and one, Lieutenant Edward V. M. Isaacs, of Iowa, taken prisoner by the 
submarine. Commander Percy W. Foote, commanding officer of the President 
Lincoln^ gave the following account of the sinking: 

"On May 3 1 , 191 8, the President Lincoln was returning to America from a voyage 
to France, and was in line formation with the U. S. S. Susqueha7ina, the U. S. S. 
Antigone, and the U. S. S. Ryndam, the latter being on the left flank of the forma- 
tion and about 800 yards from the Preside7it Lincoln. The w^eather was pleasant, 
the sun shining brightly, with a choppy sea. The ships were about 500 miles 
from the coast of France and had passed through what was considered to be the 
most dangerous part of the war zone. At about 9 A. M. a terrific explosion oc- 
curred on the port side of the ship about 120 feet from the bow and immediately 
afterwards another explosion occurred on the port side about 120 feet from the 
stern of the ship, these explosions being immediately identified as coming from tor- 
pedoes fired by a German submarine. 

*Tt was found that the ship was struck by three torpedoes, which had been fired 
as one salvo from the submarine, two of the torpedoes striking practically together 
near the bow of the ship and the third striking near the stern. The wake of the 
torpedoes had been sighted by the officers and lookouts on watch, but the torpedoes 
were so close to the ship as to make it impossible to avoid them; and it was also 
found that the submarine at the time of firing was only about 800 yards from the 
President Lincoln. 

*'The performance of Lieutenant Commander Kenyon, commanding the U. S. 
destroyer Warrington, and Lieutenant Commander Klein, of the U. S. destroyer 
Smithy deserves great commendation, as they located our position in the middle 
of the night, after having run a distance of about 250 miles, during which time 
the boats and rafts of the President Lincoln had drifted 15 miles from the position 
reported by radio, and it had been necessary for the commanding officers of these 
destroyers to make an estimate of the probable drift of the boats during that time. 
The only thing they had to base their estimate on was the force and direction of 
the wind. The discovery of the boats was not accidental, as the course steered 
was the result of mature deliberation and estimate of the situation. 

26 LOST WITH THE SHIP 

"Of the 715 men present all told on board, it was found after the muster that 
three officers and 23 men were lost with the ship, and that one officer, Lieutenant 
Isaacs, above mentioned, had been taken prisoner. The three officers were Passed 
Assistant Surgeon L. C. Whiteside, ship's medical officer; Paymaster Andrew 
Mowat, ship's supply officer; and Assistant Paymaster J. D. Johnston, United 
States Naval Reserve Force. 

"The loss of these officers was peculiarly regrettable, as they could have es- 
caped. Both Dr. Whiteside and Paymaster Mowat had seen the men under 
their charge leave the ship, the doctor having attended to placing the sick in the 
boat provided for the purpose, and they then remained in the ship for some un- 
explainable reason, as testified by witnesses who last saw them, and apparently 
these two excellent officers were taken down with the ship. Paymaster Johnson 
got on a raft alongside the ship, but in some way was caught by the ship as she 
went under, as C. M. Hippard, ship's cook, third class. United States Navy, 
states that he was on the raft with Paymaster Johnston and that they were both 
drawn under the water, but when he came to the surface Paymaster Johnston 
could no longer be seen. 

[31] 



"Of the 23 men who were lost seven were engaged in work below decks in the 
forward end of the ship, and they were either killed by the force of the explosion of 
the two torpedoes which struck in that vicinity, or were drowned by the inrush of 
the w^ater. The remaining 16 men were apparently caught on the raft alongside 
the ship and went down, this being probably caused by the current of water which 
was rushing into the big hole in the ship's side, as the men w^ere on rafts which 
were in this vicinity. 

FEARED "sub" W^OULD FIRE ON LIFE-BOATS 

"Although the German submarine commander made no offers of assistance of 
any kind, yet otherwise his conduct for the ship's company in the boat was all that 
could be expected. We naturally had some apprehension as to whether or not he 
would open fire on the boats and rafts. I thought he might probably do this, as 
an attempt to make me and other officers disclose their identity. This possi- 
bility was evidently in the minds of the men of the crew also, because at one time I 
noticed someone on the submarine walk to the muzzle of one of the guns, apparently 
with the intention of preparing it for action. This was evidently observed by 
some of the men in my boat, and I heard the remark, 'Good night, here comes the 
fireworks.' The spirit which actuated the remark of this kind, under such cir- 
cumstances, could be none other than that of cool courage and bravery. 

"There were many instances where a man showed more interest in the safety of 
another than he did for himself. When loading the boats from the rafts one man 
would hold back and insist that another be allowed to enter the boat. There was 
a striking case of this kind when about dark I noticed that Chief Master-at-Arms 
Rogers, who was rather an old man, and had been in the Navy for years, was on a 
raft, and I sent a boat to take him from the raft, but he objected considerably to 
this, stating that he was quite all right, although as a matter of fact he was very 
cold and cramped from his long hours on the raft. 

"Fortunately this splendid type of life raft known as the Balsa raft, as it was 
made of balsa wood, had been furnished the ship, and these resulted in saving a 
great many men who might otherwise have been lost, due to exhaustion in the 
water. 

"The conduct of the men during this time of grave danger was thrilling and 
inspiring, as a large percentage of them were young boys, who had only been in the 
Navy for a period of a few months. This is another example of the innate courage 
and bravery of the young manhood of America. 

715 PERSONS ON BOARD THE VESSEL 

"There were at the time 715 persons on board, including about 30 officers and 
men of the Army. Some of these were sick and two soldiers were totally para- 
lyzed. 

"The alarm was Immediately sounded and everyone went to his proper station 
which had been designated at previous drills. There was not the slightest con- 
fusion and the crew and passengers waited for and acted on orders from the com- 
manding officer wnth a coolness which was truly inspiring. 

"Inspections were made below decks and it was found that the ship was rapidly 
filling w^ith water, both forward and aft, and that there was little likelihood that 
she would remain afloat. The boats were lowered and the life rafts were placed 
in the water and about 15 minutes after the ship was struck all hands except the 
guns' crews were ordered to abandon the ship. 

[32] 



"It had been previously planned that in order to avoid the losses which have 
occurred in such instances by filling the boats at the davits before lowering them, 
that only one officer and five men would get into the boats before lowering and that 
everyone else would get into the water and get on the life rafts and then be picked 
up by the boats, this being entirely feasible, as everyone was provided with an 
efficient life-saving jacket. One exception was made to this plan, however, in 
that one boat was filled with the sick before being lowered and it was in this boat 
that the paralyzed soldiers were saved without difficulty. 

guns' crews held at their stations 

"The guns' crews were held at their stations hoping for an opportunity to fire 
on the submarine should it appear before the ship sank, and orders were given to 
the guns' crews to begin firing, hoping that this might prevent further attack. 
All the ship's company except the guns' crews and necessary officers were at that 
time in the boats and on the rafts near the ship, and when the guns' crews began 
firing the people in the boats set up a cheer to show that they were not downhearted. 
The guns' crews only left their guns when ordered by the commanding officer just 
before the ship sank. The guns in the bow kept up firing until after the water was 
entirely over the main deck of the after half of the ship. 

"The state of discipline which existed and the coolness of the men is well illus- 
trated by what occurred when the boats were being lowered and were about half 
way from their davits to the water. At this particular time, there appeared some 
possibility of the ship not sinking immediately, and the commanding officer gave 
the order to stop lowering the boats. This order could not be understood, how- 
ever, owing to the noise caused by escaping steam from the safety valves of the 
boilers which had been lifted to prevent explosion, but by motion of the hand 
from the commanding officer the crews stopped lowering the boats and held them 
in mid air for a few minutes until at a further motion of the hand the boats were 
dropped into the water. 

"Immediately after the ship sank the boats pulled among the rafts and were 
loaded with men to their full capacity and the work of collecting the rafts and 
tying them together to prevent drifting apart and being lost was begun. 

lieutenant ISAACS TAKEN PRISONER 

"While this work was under way and about half an hour after the ship sank, a 
large German submarine emerged and came among the boats and rafts, searching 
for the commanding officer and some of the senior officers whom they desired to 
take prisoners. The submarine commander was able to identify only one officer, 
Lieutenant E. V. M. Isaacs, whom he took on board and carried away. The 
submarine remained in the vicinity of the boats for about two hours and returned 
again in the afternoon, hoping apparently for an opportunity of attacking some of 
the other ships which had been in company with the Preside?it Lincoln^ but which 
had, in accordance with standard instructions, steamed as rapidly as possible from 
the scene of attack. 

"By dark the boats and rafts had been collected and secured together, there 
being about 500 men in the boats and about 200 on the rafts. Lighted lanterns 
were hoisted in the boats and flare-up lights and Coston signal lights were burned 
every few minutes, the necessary detail of men being made to carry out this work 
during the night. 

"The boats had been provided with water and food, but none was used during 

[33] 



the day, as the quantity was necessarily Hmited and it might be a period of sev- 
eral days before a rescue could be effected. 

"The ship's wireless plant had been put out of commission by the force of the 
explosion, and although the ship's operator had sent the radio distress signals, yet 
it was known that the nearest destroyers were 250 miles away, protecting another 
convoy, and it was possible that military necessity might prevent their being de- 
tached to come to our rescue. 

DESTROYERS COME TO THE RESCUE 

"At about II p. M. a white light flashing in the blackness of the night — it 
was very dark — was sighted, and very shortly it w^as found that the destroyer 
Warringto7i had arrived for our rescue and about an hour afterwards the destroyer 
Smith also arrived. The transfer of the men from the boats and rafts to the de- 
stroyers was effected as quickly as possible and the destroyers remained in the 
vicinity until after daylight the following morning, when a further search was 
made for survivors who might have drifted in a boat or on a raft, but none were 
found, and at about 6 A. M. the return trip to France was begun. 

ISAACS BOMBED IN U-BOAT 

Lieutenant Isaacs, who was captured by the submarine which sank the President 
Lincoln y had one of the most remarkable experiences on record. The U-boat 
was bombed by American destroyers, and for a time it seemed that he would 
perish with all aboard the German vessel. Taken to Germany, after repeated 
attempts in w4iich, time and again, he risked his life, he managed to escape, and 
made his way to Switzerland. Describing his experiences, Lieutenant Isaacs said: 

"The President Lincoln went down about 9:30 in the morning, 30 minutes after 
being struck by three torpedoes. In obedience to orders I abandoned ship after 
seeing all hands aft safely off the vessel. The boats had pulled away, but I stepped 
on a raft floating alongside, the quarter deck being then awash. A few minutes 
later one of the boats picked me up. The submarine, the U-QO, then returned 
and the commanding officer, while searching for Captain Foote of the President 
Lincoln y took me out of the boat. I told him my captain had gone down w^ith the 
ship, w^hereupon he steamed away, taking me prisoner to Germany. We passed 
to the north of the Shetlands into the North Sea, the Skaggerak, the Cattegat, 
and the Sound into the Baltic. Proceeding to Kiel, we passed down the canal 
through Heligoland Bight to Wilhelmshaven. 

"On the way to the Shetlands we fell in with two American destroyers, the S7nith 
and the Warrington, who dropped 22 depth bombs on us. We were submerged to 
a depth of 60 meters and weathered the storm, although five bombs were very 
close and shook us up considerably. The information I had been able to collect 
was, I considered, of enough importance to w^arrant my trying to escape. Ac- 
cordingly in Danish waters I attempted to jump from the deck of the submarine 
but was caught and ordered below. 

JUMPED FROM MOVING TRAIN 

"The German Navy authorities took me from Wilhelmshaven to Karlsruhe, 
where I was turned over to the army. Here I met officers of all the allied armies, 
and with them I attempted several escapes, all of which were unsuccessful. After 
three weeks at Karlsruhe I was sent to the American and Russian officers' camp 
at Villengen. On the way I attempted to escape from the train by jumping out 
of the window. With the train making about 40 miles an hour, I landed on the 

[34] 



opposite railroad track and was so severely wounded by the fall that I could not 
get away from my guard. They followed me, firing continuously. When they 
recaptured me they struck me on the head and body with their guns until one 
broke his rifle. It snapped in two at the small of the stock as he struck me with 
the butt on the back of the head. 

*T was given two weeks solitary confinement for this attempt to escape, but 
continued trying, for I was determined to get my information back to the Navy. 
Finally, on the night of October 6th, assisted by several American Army officers, 
I was able to effect an escape by short-circuiting all lighting circuits in the prison 
camp and cutting through barbed-wire fences surrounding the camp. This 
had to be done in the face of a heavy rifle fire from the guards. But it was difficult 
for them to see in the darkness, so I escaped unscathed. 

FINALLY ESCAPED TO SWITZERLAND 

*Tn company with an American officer in the French Army, I made my way for 
seven days and nights over mountains to the Rhine, which to the south of Baden 
forms the boundary between Germany and Switzerland. After a four-hour crawl 
on hands and knees I was able to elude the sentries along the Rhine. Plunging in, 
I made for the Swiss shore. After being carried several miles down the stream, 
being frequently submerged by the rapid current, I finally reached the opposite 
shore and gave myself up to the Swiss gendarmes, who turned me over to the 
American legation at Berne. Fom there I made my way to Paris and then Lon- 
don and finally Washington, where I arrived four weeks after my escape from 
Germany." 

STRENUOUS EFFORTS TO SAVE THE "cOVINGTOn" 

On July 1st, 1918, at 9:15 P. M., the transport Covingtony which had sailed from 
Brest, with several other large transports, was struck by a torpedo, the explosion 
throwing in the air a column of water reaching to a height above the smoke- 
stacks. The engine-room and fire-room quickly filled, the ship lost headway and 
listed almost immediately. Order was given to abandon ship and the boats and 
rafts were set afloat. The destroyer Smith stood close in alongside and took the 
men from the boats as fast as they were filled. An hour after the ship struck the 
last of the crew left the Covington. The little destroyer, in addition to her crew 
of 100 men, had aboard the crew of the Covington^ nearly 800 men and oflScers. A 
salvage party was organized ready to go on board the Covi?igton and at 4:20 
A. M. the British salvage tugs Revenger and Woonda arrived, and at 5:30 A. M. 
the American tug Cojicord reached the scene. Preparations were made to attempt 
to tow the transport to port. By 6 A. M. the three tugs had the Covington in 
tow and w^ere making from five to six knots through the water. She was then 
listed about 20 degrees to port. At a few minutes before 12 o'clock the ship took 
an additional quick list of about 10 degrees, the list increasing gradually until at 
1:30 P. M. she was heeled to an angle of 45 degrees, and was perceptibly settling 
slowly by the stern. 

SHIP STOOD VERTICALLY IN THE WATER 

At 2:30 P. M. the Covington began to sink rapidly. "It was an awe-inspiring 
sight," says the Captain's report, "as the ship rose rapidly to a vertical position in 
the water, the after smoke pipe being clear when the ship w^as in a vertical position. 
This gave a spectacle of about 450 feet of this magnificent 17,000-ton liner, stand- 
ing as a shaft on the surface of the sea. The ship remained in this vertical posi- 

[35] 



tion for a poriod of perhaps lo to 15 seconds, then sank rapidly further in the 
vertical position, the bow disappearing at 2:32 P. M. It was providential that 
all men had been removed from the ship before she rose vertically in the water. 
Had any men been aboard they would undoubtedly have been lost. Had the ship 
sunk immediately or shortly after the ship was torpedoed, she would have sunk 
in the same manner as described above and the loss of life would have been 
appalling." 

The discipline of the crew and the perfection of the drills brought about perfect 
order and insured safety. There were no accidents. The final muster of the crew 
showed that out of the entire complement of 730 men and 46 officers, only 6 w^ere 
lost; 3 fell overboard and were drowned while rigging out a boat; 2 were in a fire- 
room and were never seen afterwards, probably killed by the explosion; i other 
man was missing and was probably drowned. 

A few minutes after the ship was torpedoed one guns' crew fired three shots at 
what was thought to be a periscope wake. 

The ship went down with her colors flying. 

"mount vernon" saved by good seamanship 

On the morning of September 5th, while about 250 miles from the French coast, 
the troopship Mount Verno7i w^as attacked by a submarine. Suddenly a periscope 
was sighted about 500 yards distant, and the starboard gun opened fire. The 
periscope disappeared and a torpedo w^as sighted, headed for the vessel. It struck 
almost immediately, throwing up a huge column of water. Thirty-five men were 
killed by the explosion and 13 injured, the large number of casualties beingdue 
to the fact that the torpedo struck just at the time the watch was being relieved. 

Captain D. E. Dismukes, the commanding officer, in his report said: 

"The explosion was so terrific that for an instant it seemed that the ship was 
lifted clear out of the water and torn to pieces. Men at the after guns and depth- 
charge stations were thrown to the deck, and one of the 5-inch guns thrown partl}^ 
out of its mount. Men below in the vicinity of the explosion were stunned into 
temporary unconsciousness. 

"It was soon ascertained that the torpedo had struck the ship fairly amidships, 
destroying four of the eight boiler rooms and flooding the middle portion of the 
ship from side to side for a length of 150 feet. The ship instantly settled 10 feet 
increase in draft, but stopped there. This indicated that the water-tight bulk- 
heads wxre holding, and we could still afford to go down 2^2 feet more before she 
would lose her floating buoyancy. 

barrage of depth-charges fired 

"The immediate problem was to escape a second torpedo. To do this two 
things were necessary, to attack the enemy, and to make more speed than he could 
make submerged. The depth charge crews jumped to their stations and imme- 
diately started dropping depth bombs. A barrage of depth charges was dropped, 
exploding at regular intervals far below the surface of the water. This work was 
beautifully done. The explosions must have shaken the enemy up, at any rate 
he never came to the surface again to get a look at us. 

"The other factor in the problem was to make as much speed as possible, not 
only in order to escape an immediate attack, but also to prevent the submarine 
from tracking us and attacking after nightfall. 

[36] 



"The men in the firerooms knew that the safty of the ship depended on their 
bravery and steadfastness to duty. It is difficult to conceive of a more trying 
ordeal to one's courage than was presented to every man in the firerooms that es- 
caped destruction. The profound shock of the explosion, followed by instant 
darkness, falling soot and particles, the knowledge that they were far below the 
water level inclosed practically in a trap, the imminent danger of the ship sinking, 
the added threat of exploding boilers — all these dangers and more must have been 
apparent to every man below, and yet not one man wavered in standing by his 
post of duty. 

"No better example can possibly be given of the wonderful fact that with a 
brave and disciplined body of American men all things are possible. However 
strong may be their momentary impulse for self-preservation in extreme danger, 
their controlling impulses are to stand by their stations and duty at all hazards. 

FACING DEATH, MEN DID THEIR DUTY 

*Tn at least two instances in this crisis below men who were actually in the face 
of death did actually forget or ignore their impulse for self-preservation and en- 
deavored to do what appeared to them to be their duty. C. L. O'Connor, water 
tender, was in one of the flooded firerooms. He was thrown to the floor and in- 
stantly enveloped in flames from the burning gases driven from the furnaces, but 
instead of rushing to escape he turned and endeavored to shut a water-tight door 
leading into a large bunker abaft the fireroom, but the hydraulic lever that oper- 
ated the door had been injured by the shock and failed to function. Three men 
at work in this bunker were drowned. 

"If O'Connor had succeeded in shutting the door, the lives of these men would 
have been saved, as well as considerable buoyancy saved to the ship. The fact 
that he, though profoundly stunned by the shock and almost fatally burned by the 
furnace gases, should have had presence of mind and the courage to endeavor to 
shut the door is as great an example of heroic devotion to duty as it is possible for 
one to imagine. Immediately after attempting to close the door O'Connor was 
caught in the swirl of inrushing w ater and thrust up a ventilator leading to the 
upper deck. He was pulled up through the ventilator by a rope lowered to him 
from the upper deck. 

TORPEDO EXPLODED BETWEEN FIRE-ROOMS 

"The torpedo exploded on a bulkhead separating two firerooms, the explosive 
eff'ect being apparently about equal in both firerooms, yet in one fireroom not a 
man was saved, while in the other fireroom two of the men escaped. The explo- 
sion blasted through the outer and inner skin of the ship and through an inter- 
vening coal bunker and bulkhead, hurling overboard 750 tons of coal. The two 
men saved were working the fires within 30 feet of the explosion and just below the 
level where the torpedo struck. 

"It is difficult to see how it was possible for these men to have escaped the 
shower of debris, coal and water that must instantly have followed the explosion. 
However, the two men were not only saved but seem to have retained full pos- 
session of their faculties. Both of them were knocked down and blown across the 
fireroom. Their sensations were first a shower of flying coal, followed by an over- 
whelming inrush of water that swirled them round and round and finally thrust 
them up against the gratings above the top of the firerooms. Both of them fortu- 
nately struck exit openings in the gratings and escaped. 

[37] 



SAVED MAN HE THOUGHT WAS DEAD 

"One of the men, P. Fitzgerald, after landing on the lower grating and while 
groping his way through the darkness trying to find the ladder leading above, 
stumbled over the body of a man lying on the grating. He at first thought the 
man dead but on second impulse he turned and aroused him and led him to safety. 
The man had been stunned into semiunconsciousness and would undoubtedly have 
been lost if Fitzgerald had not aroused him. As a matter of fact, the water rose 
at once lo feet above this grating as the ship settled to the increased draft. 

"Another interesting instance of presence of mind and the effect of training may 
be cited. The attack occurred when all the men not on watch were at breakfast. 
One of the mess rooms is on the lowest deck aft, and it happens that there is only 
one exit to the compartment. Naturally, when the shock of the explosion came 
the men at the tables made a rush for the exit hatch. One of the men, Thomas F. 
Buckley by name, at first thrown to the deck by the force of the explosion, jumped 
upon one of the steps, turned and yelled, 'Remember, boys, we are all Americans 
and it's only one hit.* The doctrine had been constantly preached to the men that 
one hit would not sink the ship if every man would do his full duty. This warning 
from Buckley was electrifying. All men immediately calmed themselves and 
went, not to their boats to abandon ship, but to their collision stations to save her." 

SAFELY NAVIGATED TO PORT 

Prompt and efficient work and skillful navigation were required to save the 
vessel after the terrific injury she had received. But the Mount Ver7ion was safely 
navigated to port, and all aboard, except those killed by the explosion, were saved. 
To drive off the submarine and prevent the firing of a second torpedo, a barrage of 
five depth-bombs was fired in one minute and ten seconds after the explosion. 
Though 150 feet of the ship was flooded and she was down to 40-feet draft, the 
vessel never slowed below six knots and within two hours was making two-thirds 
of her best speed on the way back to Brest. Among those aboard were 150 
wounded soldiers who were helpless, and whose rescue would have been very diffi- 
cult had not the vessel remained afloat. The saving of the Mount Vernon is 
attributed to the fact that the water-tight doors were closed, the bulkheads were 
tight and held; that additional strjength was gained by blanking off all air-port 
lenses with steel plate; and that there was an organization well conceived and a 
system well carried out to meet the emergency. 

Captain Dismukes and his crew were given the highest commendation by Sec- 
rectary Baker, who was then in France; General Pershing and other Army officers, 
as well as naval authorities, and in a letter to the Captain, General George H. 
Harries wrote: 

"Congratulations on the seamanship, discipline and courage. It was a great 
feat you accomplished. * * * The best traditions of the Navy have been 
lifted to a higher plane. What a thing it is to be an American these days! The 
olive drab salutes the blue." 

GERMAN U-BOATS ON AMERICAN COAST 

From the beginning it was realized by the American naval authorities that Ger- 
many could at any time send her submarines across the Atlantic, and patrol vessels 
in home waters were constantly on the lookout for them. But it was not until the 
latter part of May, 191 8, more than a year after we entered the war, that they 
finally appeared. The first indication of their presence was the finding of the 

[38] 



schooner Edna oflF the Delaware coast floating like a derelict, with holes in her 
bottom that had evidently been made by bombs. The crew were gone, and there 
was no way of finding out just how the schooner had been disabled. Later it was 
discovered that the crew had been taken aboard the submarine and held prisoners 
to avoid discovery. The Edyia had been stopped by the U-boat about 2 o'clock 
the afternoon of May 25th. Earlier the same day the schooners Hattie Dunn and 
Happauge had been sunk by bombing, and their crews taken aboard the "sub." 

SANK FIVE VESSELS IN ONE DAY 

It was not until June 2d that the submarine disclosed its presence. That day 
it appeared off the New Jersey coast; at 8 o'clock in the morning sank the schooner 
Isabel B. Wiley y 12 minutes later sank the Winneconney at noon sank the schooner 
Jacob Haskell y at 3 P. M. the schooner Edzvard H. Cole, and at 4.40 P. M. sank the 
sugar-laden steamer Texel; finishing the day by sinking the passenger steamer 
Carolina at 6:45 P. M. Thirteen lives were lost in the sinking of the Carolina, the 
most serious loss of life in the submarine operations in these waters. The next day 
the submarine sank the schooner Samuel Mengel off the Delaware coast. Then, 
going south, it sank the schooner Edward R. Baird and the steamer Eidsvold, on 
June 4th. The same day the French steamer Radioline reported she was being 
pursued; a destroyer went to her assistance and fired at long distance at the enemy, 
which submerged and escaped. On June 5, some distance at sea from the North 
Carolina coast, the British steamer Harpathian and the Norwegian steamer 
Finland were sunk. The next day the Mantella, a British steamship was 
sent down, and on the 8th the Pinar del Rio, an American steamer loaded with 
sugar, was sunk by gunfire. 

SANK STEAMERS ON RETURN VOYAGE 

The "sub" moved further out to sea, and two days later the Norwegian steam- 
ships Vindeggen and Henrik Lund were bombed and sent to the bottom. On the 
14th the Norwegian barks Samoa and Kringsjaa were sunk, the former by bombs, 
the latter by gunfire. The U-boat then headed for Germany. Far out at sea the 
British steamship Dwinsk was torpedoed on June 1 8th. The first submarine 
which operated in American waters was found to be the U-151. In addi- 
tion to attacking vessels, floating mines were strewn at various points. The Her- 
bert L. Pratt, an oil steamer, struck one of the mines near Delaware Breakwater, 
and was sunk, but was quickly raised, towed to port and repaired. 

CRUISER "SAN DIEGo" SUNK BY MINE 

Later these enemy mines caused the loss of the largest American naval vessel 
sunk during the war, the cruiser San Diego, which, on July 19th, struck a mine 
below Fire Island and sank in a few minutes. The mine exploded on the port side 
just aft of the forward port engine-room bulkhead. The feed tank and circulating 
pump were blown in, and the port engine wrecked. "Fall speed ahead" w^as rung, 
and the starboard engine operated until it was stopped by water rising in the en- 
gine-room. Machinist's Mate Hawthorne, who was at the throttle in the port 
engine-room, was blown under the engine-room desk. He got up, closed the 
throttle on the engine, which had already stopped, and then escaped to the engine- 
room ladder. Lieutenant Millen, on watch in the starboard engine-room, closed 
the water-tight door to the engine-room, and gave the necessary instructions to 
the fire-room to protect the boilers. 

[39] 



CAPTAIN CLIMBED DOWN SIDE OF THE SHIP 

The ship listed to port heavily so that water entered the gun-ports on the gun- 
deck. She listed eight degrees quickly, then hung for seven minutes; then gradu- 
ally listed, the speed increasing until 35 degrees was reached. At this time the 
port quarter-deck was three feet under water. The ship then rapidly turned turtle 
and sank. Captain H. H. Christy went from the bridge down two ladders to the 
boat deck, slid down a line to the armor belt, then dropped down four feet to the 
bilge-keel, and thence to the docking-keel, which at that time was eight feet above 
water. From there he jumped into the water. The ship was about five minutes 
in turning over after she reached 35 degrees heel. 

No wake of a torpedo was seen. The first thing Captain Christy noticed was, 
while standing on the wheel house, eight feet above the forward bridge, Ife felt 
and heard a dull explosion. He immediately sounded submarine defense quarters 
and the general alarm. Everything went quietly, and according to drill schedule. 
The captain rang full speed ahead, and sent officers to investigate the damage. 
At the time he thought the ship would not sink. Two motor sailers were ordered 
rigged out, but not to be lowered until further orders. 

STOOD BY GUNS UNTIL DECK WAS AWASH 

At the submarine defense call the men went quietly to their stations and manned 
the guns. They stood by the port guns until they were awash, and by the star- 
board guns until the list of the ship pointed them up into the air. 

When it seemed obvious that the vessel would capsize, the order was given to 
abandon ship, except the port side gun-crew, which were to remain at their sta- 
tions as long as the guns would bear. Boats were ordered lowered, and two sail- 
boats, one dinghy, one wherry and two punts were launched. The life rafts were 
launched and the lumber pile on deck was loosed and set adrift. Fifty mess tables 
and a hundred kapok mattresses were thrown overboard. "Abandon ship" was 
complete before the vessel began to capsize. 

MEN CHEERED AND SANG NATIONAL AIRS 

Perfect order was preserved, the men cheering. When on the rafts they sang, 
"The Star Spangled Banner" and "My Country. 'Tis of Thee,"' cheered for the 
captain, the executive officer, and the ship, and cheered when the U.S. ensign was 
hoisted on the sail-boat. 

Two dinghies, with six officers and 21 men, pulled to shore, and landed at 1:20 
P. M. Three steamers that were in the vicinity rescued the other survivors and 
took them to port. Six lives were lost in the sinking of the Sa7i Diego and six men 
were injured. 

RAIDED NEW ENGLAND FISHING FLEET 

Enemy submarine activity was resumed in July. August loth a German sub- 
marine appeared among the fishing fleet off the New England coast and sank a 
number of small fishing craft. On one occasion the enemy ventured close to the 
coast, and off Chatham, Mass., shelled a tug and four barges in tow, wounding 
several persons that were aboard. Naval aircraft attacked the "sub," which 
submerged and went further out to sea. A submarine also appeared in southern 
waters, sinking a number of schooners off the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia 
coast, and going as far south as North Carolina, where it gunned and sank the 
lightship at Diamond Shoals. Several steamships were sunk also. But the sub- 
marines did not venture to attack convoyed vessels, kept out of the way of de- 

[40] 



stroyers and patrol craft, and in a few weeks their activities ended and were 
not resumed. , 

COULDN T STOP SAILING OF TRANSPORTS 

Though many small sailing craft and a number of steamers were sunk, the sub- 
marines failed to attain the military object of their raids in these waters, which, as 
was well known, was to strike terror to Americans and stop the steady stream ot 
troops and supplies going to France. When they first appeared Secretary Daniels 
said: "The first duty of the Navy is to keep open the road to France; to guard 
our transports and supply ships; to'keep moving the stream of troops and supplies 
being sent overseas." Every protection possible was being given to coastwise 
commerce and sailing craft, but the Navy never for a moment lost sight of the main 
miHtary object. The sailing of the transports was not delayed for a day, they 
were carefully guarded, and not one was lost or even attacked as it left our ports. 

2,000 VESSELS IN SERVICE WHEN WAR ENDED 

The growth of the Navy in ships and personnel was phenomenal. When the 
war began there were 364 vessels on the naval list, of which 20 were listed as un- 
serviceable for war purposes. When the armistice was signed the Navy was man- 
ning and operating 2,000 vessels, including those of all classes, large and small. 
Following is a list of the naval vessels then in service: 

Fit for Under 

service, construe- Total 

including tion and 
those under authorized 
Repair 

Battleships, single caliber 16 13 29 

Battleships, mixed caliber 23 '. . 23 

Battle cruisers . . 6 6 

Armored cruisers 8 . . 8 

Monitors 7 . . 7 

Cruisers, first class 4 . . 4 

Cruisers, second class 4 10 14 

Cruiser^ third class 25 .. 15 

Destroyers 92 250 342 

Coast torpedo vessels 15 .. 15 

Torpedo boats 17 . . 17 

Submarines 79 102 181 

Tenders 17 3 20 

Gunboats Zl 2 39 

Transports 5 1 6 

Supply ships 5 . . 5 

Hospital ships 6 1 7 

Fuel ships 21 3 24 

Converted yachts 12 .. 12 

Patrol vessels 2 98 100 

Submarine chasers 300 42 342 

Mine sweepers 14 40 54 

Tugs 50 81 I3I 

Special type 13 3 16 

Unserviceable for war purposes 15 .^ 15 

Total ^^^ 655 1,432 

In addition, the Navy was manning 50 troop transports; 232 cargo transports, 
640 patrol vessels in the district, 175 barges in districts and a number of other 
miscellaneous craft. 

FORCE OF 619,000 OFFICERS AND MEN 

The growth in personnel was even more notable. When the armistice was 
signed there were 619,449 men and officers in the service, as follows: 

Enlisted 

Men Officers Total 

Regular Navy 216,644 10,467 227,111 

Naval Reserve Force 290,963 21,985 312,948 

Marine Corps : 70,527 2,435 72,962 

Coast Guard 5,705 723 6,428 

Total 583,839 35,610 619,449 

[41] 



/ 



In addition, more than 80,000 mechanics and other workmen were employed 
in Navy Yards, and there were several thousand other civiHan employes under 
the Department engaged in various duties. So that there were more than 
700,000 persons in the Naval Establishment, ashore and afloat. 

When war was declared, April 6, 1917, there were in the Navy 64,680 enlisted 
men and 4,366 officers; total, 69,046; in the Marine Corps 13,266 enlisted men 
and 426 officers; total, 13,692. Some 10,000 had been enrolled in the Naval 
Reserve Force; the 10,000 officers and men of the Naval Militia were mustered 
into the Federal service as National Naval Volunteers, and the Coast Guard, 
with its 4,500 officers and men, came under the operation of the Navy for the 
period of the war. 

WIDE SCOPE OF navy's OPERATIONS 

The operations of the United States Navy covered the widest scope in its his- 
tory, extending from the Murman coast of Russia and the North Sea to the Med- 
iterranean and the Adriatic; from Canada to South American waters; from the 
Pacific Coast to Vladivostok. From our entrance into the war it patrolled our 
vast extent of coasts, and took over most of the patrol of the Western Atlantic. 
The Pacific Squadron, commanded by Admiral William B. Caperton, visited Rio 
de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Montevideo, cementing the friendship of our South 
American neighbors. The vessels of the Asiatic Station, under Admiral Austin 
M. Knight, co-operated with the Japanese and our other allies in Oriental waters, 
and took part in the allied activities at Vladivostok. The German High Seas 
Fleet being penned in its home ports, there was little opportunity for action on the 
part of major vessels. The main body of the Atlantic Fleet, commanded by 
Admiral Henry T. Mayo, was held in home waters, protected against torpedo 
attack. It was kept in a high state of efficiency, ready for any call to action. 
Each ship was utilized as a training school in gunnery and engineering, and hun- 
dreds of gunners, engineers and men in other lines were trained and sent out to man 
nev: vessels. 

GREAT WORK IN TRAINING RECRUITS 

Within little more than a year the personnel of the Naval service grew to a 
force of half a million. To house and train these recruits a score of new camps 
and stations were erected, each a little city in itself; and numerous schools were 
established to train men in special branches. Sir Eric Geddes, First Lord of the 
British Admiralty, said of this: 

"The dauntless determination w^hich the United States has displayed in creating 
a huge trained body of seamen out of landsmen is one of the most striking accom- 
plishments of the war. Had it not been effectively done, one would have thought 
it impossible." 

1,000 SHIPS IN CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM 

Secretary Daniels announced in 191 7 that the entire war-building program of 
the Navy embraced nearly a thousand ships. Most of the vessels authorized by 
the three-year program of 1916 were contracted for early in 191 7; but the necessity 
of concentrating every energy on smaller craft to combat the submarines and the 
absorption of shipbuilding facilities, labor and material in our huge undertaking 
of building vitally necessary merchant vessels prevented the pushing of w^ork on 
capital ships which could not be completed in time to be used during the war. 
Within a short time after hostilities began, contracts had been made for every 
destroyer that American yards could build. But the call came for more, and yet 

[42] 



more of these swift fighting craft which had proved the most effective weapons 
against the submarine. To produce them, new facilities had to be created. The 
naval authorities set to work to solve the problem. Congress adopted the recom- 
mendations of the Navy Department and on October 6, 191 7, appropriated 
^350,000,000 additional for the construction of destroyers, the creation of new 
facilities and the speeding up of those already contracted for. That very week 
the contracts were signed, and work was begun on the enlargement of existing 
shipyards, the building of new yards and new factories to produce engines and 
forgings. The way in which this huge undertaking was carried out was inspiring. 

LARGE NEW SHIPYARDS BUILT 

Perhaps the most striking instance was the building of the Victory Plant, at 
Squantum, Massachusetts, where on land that had been almost a swamp, rose in 
a few months the largest and most complete plant in existence devoted entirely to 
the building of destroyers; and in April, 1918, six months after ground had been 
broken for the yard, the keels of five destroyers were laid in a single day. New 
records were made in construction, vessels being completed in eight months from 
the laying of the keels when previously from twenty months to two years had been 
the usual time required. In a special instance, to see how quickly it was possible 
to construct a destroyer, the Mare Island Navy Yard, by "field riveting'* and other 
"hurry up" methods, succeeded in launching the destroyer Ward in 17}4 working 
days after its keel was laid and the vessel was put into commission in 70 days. 
On July 4, 1918, no fewer than 14 destroyers were launched, eight of them at a 
single yard, the Union Plant of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company at San 
Francisco. The U. S. Navy has built or has under construction or contract more 
destroyers than any two navies possessed at the beginning of the European war — 
and our new destroyers are of the most modern type — 315 feet long, 28,000 horse- 
power, with a speed of 35 knots. 

The staunchness of our destroyers was proved on many occasions. When the 
Ma7iley collided with a British steamship, depth-bombs on her rear deck exploded 
and her stern was almost blown off, yet she was successfully taken to port, repaired 
and put back into service. The Shaw was cut in two by a collision; the vessel 
was so badly smashed that it looked like scrap-iron; yet the two parts remained 
afloat and were towed to port. 

BIG BATTLESHIPS ADDED TO THE FLEET 

At the close of hostilities there w^ere 655 naval vessels under construction or 
contract. Four hundred submarine chasers, many destroyers and craft of other 
types had been completed and put into service. The latest additions to the Battle 
Fleet were the Mississippi and the Nezu Mexico, 32,000 tons displacement, the 
largest w^arships in service in any navy. The New Mexico was equipped with the 
electric drive, considered one of the greatest improvements of our time in marine 
engineering. Under test, this proved to be entirely successful and hereafter all 
our major ships will be so equipped. 

The repair of the 109 German interned vessels w^as a triumph of American in- 
genuity and engineering skill. Hoping to prevent the use of these vessels, their 
crews so badly damaged the machinery that they believed it was beyond repair, 
and that a long period would be required to replace the boilers and engines. But, 
by the use of electric welding and of other new methods, all this machinery was 
repaired, and within little more than six months the ex-German and Austrian 

[43] ,', i 



vessels were in service as transports, carrying American troops, munitions and 
supplies overseas. 

NORTH SEA MINE BARRAGE 

Our navy took a leading part in the construction of the North Sea Mine Barrage, 
the largest work of the kind ever undertaken and an important factor in the anti- 
submarine warfare. This project was proposed by Rear Admiral Ralph Earle, 
Chief of Ordnance, soon after this country entered the war, but it was not until 
nearly a year later that the plan was finally adopted by the British and American 
authorities and, through their joint cooperation, put nto execution. For this 
project a new type of mine combining maximum destructiveness with safety in 
handling, was developed; 100,000 of these were manufactured, and a mine-loading 
plant capable of automatically loading more than 1,000 mines a day, was estab- 
lished. An entire fleet of mine-layers and vessels for transporting mines was 
organized, manned, and put into operation. Mine Force No. i, which did the 
mine-laying, being under command of Captain Reginald R. Belknap. 

56,570 AMERICAN MINES LAID 

Two bases, under command of Rear Admiral Joseph Strauss, were established at ,, 

Inverness and Invergordon on the coast of Scotland, from which the mine-layers | 

operated. This mine-barrage stretched across the North Sea a distance of 230 
miles, from the Orkneys to the coast of Norway. It was completed in October, 
1918. Of the 70,100 mines planted, 56,570 were American. While effectiveness 
of this barrage is almost impossible to determine with exactness, it is believed that 
no less than ten submarines were shattered or sunk, and the danger of running 
into this mine-barrier greatly increased the difficulties of the U-boats in making 
their way to the Atlantic. 

NAVAL RAILWAY BATTERIES IN FRANCE 

When the imperative need of huge guns of long range for use against the Germans 
on the Western front was demonstrated, naval ordnance experts pointed out that a 
number of 14-inch guns originally designed for battle cruisers could be made avail- 
able for use ashore, and special railway mounts of a new type were designed in less 
than 30 days. Work was begun in February, 1918, and on April 25 the first gun, 
mounted complete, left the shops for firing tests. Each battery comprised a com- 
plete train, with standard 83-ton locomotive, 562-ton tender, gun-cars, armor- 
plated ammunition cars; crane car, construction crane, sand, timber, workshop, 
kitchen, fuel and staff radio cars, berthing cars for officers and men and battery 
headquarters. Several locomotives and 80 cars were built for the battery trains. 
The guns were the largest ever placed on a mobile mount. They could be placed 
over the pit foundation ready for firing in a few moments, and in the same space 
of time could be raised, ready for removal. 

CAN FIRE PROJECTILE 25 TO 30 MILES 

The first parts were shipped in June to St. Nazaire, France, and there assembled 
and on September 25, the guns were put into action on the Western Front. Tests 
had shown a possible range of 55,000 yards, about thirty miles. In operation 
the gun fires from the rails at angles of elevation up to 15 degrees. At this eleva- 
tion the standard Class "B" 1400 pound projectile is thrown a distance of 22,450 
yards, or 12 8/10 miles, approximately. The gun is capable of being fired at 

[44] 



angles of elevation up to 45 degrees, at which its range is 42,500 yards, or a distance 
of 24 2-10 miles approximately. 

SMASHED GERMAN BASES AND RAILWAY LINES 

Five of these Naval Railway Batteries, under command of Rear Admiral 
Charles P. Plunkett, were in service with the armies on the Western Front until 
the end of hostilities. They were engaged at Montmedy, the last shot being fired 
at Longuyon the day the armistice went into effect. These long-range guns, 
throwing their huge projectiles far behind the German lines, did great destruction 
to the enemy bases and munition depots, smashing railways and stations and 
playing their part in cutting off the Germans' main line of retreat. 

During the war the Navy manufactured 2,841 guns of medium calibres, of which 
1,887 were actually placed in service; arming naval vessels and merchant ships, 
some of our allies' vessels, as well as our own; furnishing mobile land batteries for 
use ashore, these including six-inch guns placed on caterpillar tractors; produced 
ample shells and ammunition for all vessels operating under the Navy and accumu- 
lated a large reserve supply. 

DEPTH-CHARGE USED AGAINST SUBMARINES 

The depth-charge, which proved the most effective weapon against the sub- 
marine, was developed from a small, crude "can" carrying 50 pounds of explosive, 
to a huge affair containing 600 pounts of TNT, which could be operated with 
almost as much safety as any ordinary shell. At the beginning destroyers carried 
only four depth-charges; before the end of the war they were carrying fifty as an 
average load. This and the increased safety of handling enabled them, instead of 
merely firing a single charge against a submarine, to drop a number of depth- 
bombs covering the entire vicinity, and these depth-bomb barrages proved one of 
the most important factors in the destruction of U-boats. A Y-gun was invented 
for firing depth-charges. Seaplanes were supplied with depth-bombs, by which 
they could reach submarines under water, and a non-recoil gun was adopted for 
use on aeroplanes. A new star shell for illuminating enemy vessels without dis- 
closing the position of the ship firing was devised and will, it is believed, greatly 
increase the effectiveness of firing at night. 

Listening devices were developed to determine the approximate position of sub- 
marines operating under water; and ships were equipped with paravenes to sweep 
up automatically mines encountered in their path. 

VESSELS SKILLFULLY CAMOUFLAGED 

Marine camouflage w^as developed into a fine art. From the beginning of the 
war the question of painting vessels in such a manner as to prevent their being seen, 
or to enable them to escape submarine attack, was carefully studied. This is by 
no means the same as "camouflage" as it is generally understood on land, where 
objects at rest are painted or marked in such a manner as to prevent their being 
identified against a fixed background. Experience showed that no system of mark- 
ing will materially reduce the visibility of a vessel; that a uniform coat of paint is 
about as good as anything for the purpose of reduction of visibility, but unfor- 
tunately the most desirable color varies with conditions. Experiments carried on 
for years in our service had indicated "battleship gray" as the most desirable color 
for all-around purposes, and this was confirmed by war experience. 

[45] 



DAZZLE PAINTING SYSTEM DEVELOPED 

There was developed, however, a system of so-called "dazzle" painting — the 
vessel being painted in an apparently grotesque and bizarre manner for the purpose, 
not of rendering it invisible, but rendering it difficult for the submarine commander, 
peering through his periscope for a few seconds at a time, to determine the course 
of the vessel. While not always effective, there is no doubt that dazzle painting is 
a palliative against submarine attack, and its application, not only to naval vessels, 
but to all vessels of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, was systematically under- 
taken. A division was formed in the Bureau of Construction and Repair which 
undertook the preparation of the designs for American vessels, which were painted 
in accordance with the designs supplied, and more than iioo vessels were cam- 
ouflaged in various designs. 

HUGE OVERSEAS TRANSPORTATION SERVICE 

The Naval Overseas Transportation Service, w^hich was organized in January, 
1918, to carry supplies and munitions to the American forces abroad, grew in ten 
months to a fleet of 321 cargo-carrying ships aggregating 2,800,000 dead-weight 
tons. Five thousand officers and 30,000 men were required to man this immense 
fleet, w^hich became one of the largest divisions of the Navy, Millions of tons of 
cargo were carried overseas, the service being so expanded that on an average of 
every five hours one of its vessels, laden with supplies for our soldiers and sailors, 
sailed from an American port. 

RAPID GROWTH OF NAVY FLYING CORPS 

The development of -the Navy Flying Corps has been rapid and consistent. 
On July I, 1917, there were 45 Naval aviators, officers of the Navy, Marine Corps 
and Coast Guard who had been given special training. There were some 200 
student officers under training and 1250 enlisted men attached to the Aviation 
Service. A year later there were 823 qualified naval aviatois, 2,052 student 
officers and 400 ground officers; 7,300 trained mechanics and 5,400 mechanics in 
training. At the time the armistice was signed the total aviation personnel was 
more than 40,000; the figures of November 25, 1918, being as follows: 

At Home Abroad 

Pilots 831 825 

Officers, exclusive of Pilots , 940 409 

Student Officers 3)912 

Enlisted Men 16,788 18,879 



22,471 20,113 

Coastal air stations were established at various points along our coasts, and an 
aerial coast patrol maintained. In a typical month, June, 1918, a total of 25,642 
flights, covering about 2,155,860 miles were made by seaplanes from stations along 
the United States coast, including both patrol and training; and lighter-than-air 
craft — dirigible balloons, etc. — made a total of 613 flights, covering over 56,000 
miles. 

27 U. S. NAVAL AIR STATIONS IN EUROPE 

American naval aviators took a most active part in the patrol of the European 
coast, scouting for submarines, assisting in convoy of vessels, conducting recon- 

[46] 



noitering expeditions over enemy territory and engaging in bombing expeditions. 
Twenty-seven U.S. naval air stations were established in England, Ireland, France 
and Italy, with a total personnel of more than 800 pilots, 400 other officers and 
18,000 machinists and other assistants. 

In the development and production of aircraft the Navy made a notable record. 
New types of flying boats, superior to any previous model, were designed and 
produced; the latest being the huge N C-i, equipped with two Liberty motors, 
which on a recent flight carried up fifty men. The dirigible balloon was de- 
veloped up to the large C-i, 192 feet long, which recently made a 1500-mile 
flight from Rockaway Beach, L. I., to Key West, Fla. 

NAVY BUILT ITS OWN AIRCRAFT FACTORY 

Three months after war was declared, when it was apparent that resources 
would be taxed to produce the large amount of aircraft required, the Navy decided 
to' build its own aircraft factory. This work was accomplished in record time. 
Secretary Daniels on July 27, 191 7, authorized its construction at the Philadelphia 
Navy Yard. On October i6th the first power-driven machine was started, 67 
days after ground was broken and by the end of November the plant was com- 
pleted. On March 27, 191 8, the first machine built in the factory was completed 
and given its trial flight. From that time on a constant succession of seaplanes 
were produced there, most of them being sent abroad immediately for service on 
the European coasts. A large addition to the factory was built last Spring and 
when the armistice was signed about 4,000 employes were engaged there in the 
production of aircraft. 

LARGEST RADIO SERVICE IN THE WORLD 

The Navy has operated all the wireless telegraph in the United Stages and its 
possessions since the declaration of war. The high-power radio service has been 
mcreased until it is now the largest in the world. New high-power stations were 
completed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Cavite, Philippine Islands, and Annapolis, 
Md. Through the Annapolis, Tuckerton, Sayville and New Brunswick, N. J., 
stations direct communication was maintained with Europe, enabling this govern- 
ment to keep in touch with London, Paris and Rome without depending on the 
trans-Atlantic cables. Radio apparatus and operators were furnished hundreds of 
merchant ships, as well as all naval vessels. Thousands of operators were re- 
quired, and large schools were established for their training, the largest, that at 
Harvard University, accommodating 4,000 students. To insure uninterrupted 
communication with France, the United States Navy built at Bordeaux the most 
powerful wireless station in existence. Negotiations have just been completed 
for selling this plant to the French government. 

NAVY YARDS GREATLY EXPANDED 

Navy yards have been greatly expanded, large new machine shops, foundries 
and warehouses erected; and these yards have not only cared for the immense 
amount of repairs necessary to keep the fleets in trim, but have converted many 
merchant vessels into auxiliaries and have, at the same time, been engaged in 
building all types of naval vessels. Their shipbuilding facilities have been greatly 
enlarged and form an important part of the ship-construction facilities of the 
country. 

[47] 



INVESTIGATING COMMITTEE COMMENDED NAVAL ADMINISTRATION 

Soon after Congress convened, in December, 191 7, the Naval Affairs Committee 
of the House of Representatives appointed a sub-committee, of which Hon. Wm. 
B. OHver was chairman, to investigate the conduct and administration of naval 
affairs. That committee's conclusions were thus summed up in its report made 
March 11, 1918: 

*'First. All appropriations have been expended or obligated with judgment, 
caution, and economy, when you consider that haste was necessary to bring results 
and abnormal conditions obtained in reference to all problems of production or 
operations. 

"Second. The Navy, with limited personnel and materiel, was suddenly called 
to face many difficult and untried problems in sea warfare, and has met the situ- 
ation with rare skill, ingenuity, and dispatch, and a high degree of success. 

"Third. The efficiency of the Navy's pre-war organization, the readiness and 
fitness of its men and ships for the difficult and arduous tasks imposed by war were 
early put to the acid test and thus far in no way have they been found wanting, 
and we feel that the past 12 months presents for the Navy a remarkable record of 
achievement, of steadily increasing power in both personnel and materiel, of 
rapidly expanding resources, and of well-matured plans for the future, whether the 
war be of long or short duration." 

NO CHANGE IN ORGANIZATION REQUIRED 

The ease with which the Navy passed from a peace to a war basis was due 
largely to the efficient departmental system which had been built up in previous 
years. The creation of the office of Chief of Naval Operations, who is "charged 
with the operations of the Fleet and with the preparation and readiness of plans 
for its use in war," provided a long-needed improvement in the organization of 
the Department, and the system inaugurated four years ago gives the advantages 
of a General Staff without its disadvantages. So efficient was the system built up 
in time of peace that no change whatever was found necessary in the organization 
of the Navy Department, which merely expanded its personnel to care for the 
immensely increased demands which war imposed. In his report for 191 7, Sec- 
retary Daniels said: 

"In its w^ork since the war began the department has not been hampered by the 
necessity for any modification of its organization in passing from a peace basis to a 
war basis. There has been a natural and temporarily unavoidable shortage of 
personnel. Strong pressure — which was resisted — has also come from many 
officers who wished to give up important duty ashore for any kind of duty afloat, 
but every new expansion and activity was placed readily and naturally with an 
existing bureau or office of the department, and, as far as its organization is con- 
cerned, the difficulties that have faced the Navy Department as regards the Navy 
proper have been those of expansion and not of reorganization.'* 



A limited, de Luxe edition of "Our Navy's Part in the War" beautifully printed, large type, illus- 
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No home or library should be without this wonderful story of faithful,- patriotic service. 
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Publishers of Ar?ny and Navy Books 

Times Building, New York 

[48] 




Krowti P.r(H., N. Y, 



THREE BIG GUNS ON THE U. S. S. ARIZONA 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




